St. Timothy High School

System Specifications
FACP: Kidde VS4 FACP Location: Custodian's Office System Type: Addressable System Line Voltage: 120VAC NAC Voltage: 24VFWR System Coding: Temporal Strobes Synchronized: Yes Date of last known Upgrade: 2020 Year Opened: 2004

St. Timothy High School is a junior and senior high school located at 501 Sunset Drive in the neighborhood of Sunset Ridge in Cochrane, AB. It was built in 2004, and the fire alarm system is from 2020. Only the pull stations are original. The system is managed and serviced by Altex Security Systems.

System Specifications (2020-present)

FACP

The school is protected by a Kidde VS4 fire alarm system. The panel is located in the caretaker's office, and was installed in spring 2020. The system runs Kidde's GSA addressable protocol, and the system coding is temporal. It took Altex Security two whole months to install this system.

Annunciators

There is a Kidde K-RLCD-C LCD annunciator and a K-RLED24 LED annunciator at the entrance, on a rectangular silver metal plate.

Notification Appliances

The notification appliance circuits were mostly redone when the VS4 was installed. The main notification appliances are EST "Genesis" GC-HDVM (white, ceiling, no FIRE marking) horn/strobes, located in hallways and classrooms. There is one horn/strobe per classroom, and the library contains three horn/strobes. The open ceiling areas, such as the atrium, gymnasium, band/music room and the shop have EST "Genesis" G1R-HDVM (red, wall, no FIRE marking) horn/strobes. The gym has two of the horn/strobes where the old bell/strobes were, but the other two are in new locations, having two per side. In each washroom, there is an EST "Genesis" GC-VM (white, ceiling mount, no FIRE) remote strobe. All horn/strobes are set to high volume, and random candelas (a few are at 110cd). Plates are covering where the bell/strobes were. One of the three outdoor bells was replaced with an EST "Genesis" WG4RN-HVMC (red, no FIRE) horn/strobe by the tarmac, and it is covered by a wire grill. Metal plates are covering the former outdoor bells' space. There is an EST "Integrity" CS405-8A-T weatherproof strobe by the bike rack that was replaced in February 2020 when the QuickStart was still in use. It is the only notification appliance to remain from the previous system.

Initiating Devices

Pull Stations

All of the pull stations are the original EST SIGA-270 addressable pull stations, which were installed during construction.

Automatic Detection Devices

The smoke detectors were replaced with Kidde KIR-PD optical addressable smoke detectors, which were installed when the new system was. The duct detectors in the air handling units are Kidde SD-2W two-wire photoelectric duct smoke detectors.

Former System Specifications (2004-2020)

System Specifications
FACP: EST QuickStart QS1 FACP Location: Custodian's Office System Type: Addressable System Line Voltage: 120VAC NAC Voltage: 24VFWR System Coding: Temporal Strobes Synchronized: Yes Date of last known Upgrade: Feb 2020 Year Decomissioned: 2020

FACP

The school was formerly protected by an EST QuickStart QS1 addressable fire alarm system. The panel was located in the caretaker's office. It was installed in 2016 as an emergency replacement for the original QuickStart QS1 after a CPU failure. The system ran EST's Signature-series addressable protocol, and the system coding was temporal. The original QuickStart however was set to continuous. The system was replaced with the Kidde system in 2020.

Annunciators

There was an EST QS1-CPU-1 annunciator at the entrance, and an SL30 card in it.

Notification Appliances

The main notification appliances were Edwards MB6-24 motor bells (6" gong) on EST "Integrity" 403-5A-R (15cd) strobe plates. These could also be found in the library, the music room, and even the changerooms. The gym and shop have louder ambient noise levels, and contained Edwards MB10-24 (10" gong) motor bells on EST "Integrity" 403-5A-R strobe plates. There were three in the gym. For outdoor notification, there were three Edwards MB6-24 motor bells (6" gong), located at the hill where stairs to the basement are, in the staff parking lot, and in the tarmac. There is also an EST CS405-8A-T (110cd) weatherproof Integrity strobe installed in February 2020 as a deficiency replacement for the original one, which quit functioning in late 2019. The strobe is above the bike rack. It is still in use on the Kidde system.

Initiating Devices

Pull Stations

All of the pull stations were and still are EST SIGA-270 addressable pull stations, original to the school. The gym one is missing its glass rod. These are still in use on the Kidde system.

Automatic Detection Devices

The smoke detectors were EST SIGA-PS addressable photoelectric smoke detectors, installed on EST SIGA-SB bases. Most were original, and some were deficiency replacements over the years.

List of known activations

September 21, 2020 - alarm at around 9:45 AM, activated by duct detector in air handling unit in gymnasium. Scent of smoke reported in gym and nearby areas prior to alarm. School was evacuated, Cochrane Fire Services responded and the cause was found to be a motor overheating, burning red hot and smoking from the electrical panel outputting 4x the rated current, due to FORTIS working on power. Alarm shut off after 30 minutes.

Gallery

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  An Edwards MB6-24 bell/strobe combo in the basement. (This alarm does not exist anymore)

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  This one was located by Room 209. Note the sticker on the bell. (This alarm does not exist anymore)

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  This bell/strobe was in the band room. Note the Incredibles logo on it, which was vandalized by the band teacher. (This alarm does not exist anymore)

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  An original EST SIGA-PS smoke detector in the stairwell. Also pictured is an Enforcer ceiling speaker. (This smoke detector does not exist anymore)

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  The QuickStart annunciator in the entrance. Note the new EST logo. (System has been replaced)

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  A pull station by the stairwell in the basement. This pull station is still installed on the Kidde system.