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.

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 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.
All notification appliances except for one are from EST's "Genesis" line of products. The main notification appliances are EST GC-HDVM (white, ceiling, no FIRE marking, varies between 30 and 75cd) horn/strobes. 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 G1R-HDVM (red, wall, no FIRE marking, varies between 15, 75, and 110cd) horn/strobes. The gym has two of the horn/strobes where the bell/strobes were, but the other two are in new locations, having two per side. In each washroom, there is an EST GC-VM (white, ceiling mount, no FIRE) remote strobe. All horn/strobes are set to high volume, and random candelas (mostly 75cd). Plates are covering where the bell/strobes were.

For exterior notification, there is an Edwards WG4RN-HVMC (red, no FIRE) weatherproof horn/strobe by the tarmac, and it is covered by a wire grill. There is also an EST "Integrity" CS405-8A-T weatherproof strobe by the bike rack that was installed in February 2020 when the QuickStart was still in service; the only notification appliance to remain from the previous system.
There used to be three outdoor bells, but when the Kidde system was installed, only one was replaced, and the other two locations are covered with metal plates.

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 are Kidde KIR-PD optical addressable smoke detectors. Certain rooms have Kidde KIR-HD addressable rate-of-rise/fixed heat detectors. All detectors installed on KI-SB bases. The duct detectors in the air handling units and above ceilings are Kidde SD-2W two-wire photoelectric duct smoke detectors, connected to Kidde GSA-LED LED indicators. There is also a sprinkler system with waterflow.

Modules

There are Kidde GSA-CT1 addressable monitor modules supervising the sprinkler system and tamper switches. There are also Kidde GSA-CR addressable control modules for shutting down the HVAC system adn releasing the fire doors, wired to Edwards 1508-AQN5 magnetic door holders.

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 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. The strobe is above the bike rack, and it is still in use on the Kidde system.

Initiating Devices

Pull Stations

All of the pull stations were and still are the original EST SIGA-270 addressable pull stations. 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. Certain rooms such as the electrical room had EST SIGA-HRS addressable fixed/rate-of-rise heate detectors, also installed on SIGA-SB bases. Most were original, and some were deficiency replacements over the years. There were also EST SIGA-SD addressable photoelectric duct smoke detectors on the air handling units and behind the drop ceilings, indicated by EST SIGA-LED indicators. There was also a sprinkler system with waterflow detection.

Modules

There were EST SIGA-CT1 addressable monitor modules supervising the sprinkler system and tamper switches. There were also EST SIGA-CR control modules for shutting down the HVAC system, and releasing the fire doors, wired to Edwards 1508-AQN5 magnetic door holders.

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 was a code violation, as the strobe flashes are not visible. (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.