During 1968, local authority fire brigades in Great Britain were asked to
participate in a survey that was intended to bring together (among other things)
reports on all fires starting in premises equipped with automatic fire detection
systems.
All the reports received have been examined to establish, so far as possible,
how often a fire occurred and either. (a) there was a complete failure of the
automatic system because it was not in a serviceable condition (Total Failure);
(b) there was a local alarm indication provided by the system, but a failure in
the brigade connection because the connection was not in a serviceable condition
(Brigade Connection Failure), (c) the system operated, or would have
done if the fire had not been discovered at an early stage by a person.
AII reports on false alarms, or on fires in premises equipped with manual fire
alarm systems or fixed installations such as sprinklers, have so far as possible
been excluded.
