When it was built in 1991, the fishing museum was built around an early-age wooden fishing ship, now resembling a ship in a bottle with 10-meter high ceilings.
Most of Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre is a dark labyrinth of wooden-cladded exhibits to put you in the shoes of trawlermen 100 years ago. Wireless fire alarms were a must to ensure that the experience wasn’t hampered by the sight of trunking down the walls, and to avoid having to take the museum apart to fit wiring back to the panel.
Initially a tender project, we were up against fire and security companies that were recommending installing half-wireless and half-wired solutions. This school of thought is out-of-date with the launch of Cygnus’ SmartNet solution.
A half-and-half system would have required wireless receivers to be placed around the facility that are loop connected which would have still meant installing fire cable to half the building to allow the connection to wireless detectors.
Through conversations with the team at the museum, the thought of visible fire systems distracting from the experience is not something that appeals to the passionate curators.
Right from the initial tender application, we knew that Your Choice were different to the rest. Their aim was to provide a cutting-edge solution that was perfectly suited to our facility and our needs.
The team on site worked quickly, and ensured it was working perfectly before handover. They were conscious and considerate of our visitors and worked around our opening schedule.
The Cygnus wireless solution, the only true wireless system on the market, was chosen as the tech for this heritage site.
We installed 30 new wireless detectors in (discreet) key locations around the museum. We ensured that the system gave the site a Cat P1 protection. This means the entire site was covered by detection in the event of a fire.
With exhibits costing upwards of hundreds of thousands of pounds, and priceless heritage relics on show, with some exhibits privately owned by families of passed trawlermen. No risk could be afforded to fire detection.
Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre have successfully combined the authenticity of original exhibits, that have enormous historical and cultural importance, with a the latest in cutting edge fire detection systems. Only the very best was trusted with protecting the heritage centre.
The main event of the museum is The Perseverance, a 47ft Gostelow smack, built in 1914. However incredible to look at, the timber ship is an incredible fire risk. If a fire were to break out on the vessel, it would have gone up very quickly.
In such a cavernous room, the museum had difficulty in spotting a fire quickly, in order to save the exhibit if the worst was to happen.
When the museum was built, a beam detector was installed in the eaves of the ceiling. With the Perseverance in place, maintenance of this asset was virtually impossible without putting the ship at risk of damage.
Instead of replacing this, when we replaced the fire alarm. We fitted a state-of-the-art thermal and flame imaging cameras to discreet locations. They “see” from extended distances under virtually any light or weather condition, distinguishing people and vehicles from other objects with Deep Learning capabilities. Augmented with visible light imaging and visualized metadata.
The slightest flicker of a flame, or smoulder from within the ship, and the alarm would sound.
We’re very proud of this ingenuity, it’s just one example of our team using their years of combined fire and security experience to design and recommend a bespoke solution for every client. This was not on the brief, but on site our engineers and operations team we able to asses to requirements and solve the problem there and then.
