Can your existing CCTV detect fire and smoke?

Ordinary security cameras do not detect fire on their own. The detection comes from software that looks at each picture for smoke and flame. That software can run on a computer at your site, in a recorder with the feature built in, or in a camera made for the job.

• What it gives you: a photo of the smoke or flame, the camera and the time, sent to your phone while it is happening.
• What it needs: a camera with a clear view of the area, enough light to see smoke, and an internet connection to send the alert.
• What it is not: a certified fire detector. It cannot trigger sprinklers, sound your fire alarm or call the fire brigade.
• Where it helps most: large open spaces such as godowns, warehouses, yards and factory floors, where a ceiling detector may be slow or absent.
• What it costs with us: smoke and fire are standard on every site and run on the free 7-day trial. In India it is ₹400 per camera per month plus GST, four cameras minimum.

A program trained on pictures of smoke and flame looks at each camera's video every few seconds and asks one question: does this look like smoke or fire? When the answer is probably yes, it raises an event. A well-built system then checks the event a second time before it tells anyone.

Smoke is usually seen first, as a grey or white plume that grows and moves. Flame is seen as bright, flickering colour. Both can be confused with other things, which is why the second check and the limits below matter.

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A smoke detector on the ceiling has to wait for smoke to reach it. In a tall building that can take time. Bosch, which makes a camera built specifically for fire detection, says that in high-ceiling spaces smoke dilutes before it reaches the ceiling-mounted detectors, and that its camera can detect fires faster than a common point-type detector on a ceiling.

A camera looks at the source. It can also cover places that have no ceiling detector at all, such as an open yard, a loading bay or a stack of goods outside. If you already have cameras there, software can use them as an extra pair of eyes.

Axis is a camera maker that builds smoke detection into some of its cameras. Its published white paper says the smoke alert reacts within five seconds at the default sensitivity setting when smoke appears in the field of view, and that smoke can be detected in light above 5 lux. It also says flames can be detected in complete darkness, but only when the camera is in day mode with the infrared cut filter on.

The same white paper is clear about what the feature is not. It says the smoke alert feature does not replace a certified fire detection solution, and that it cannot be linked to a fire alarm centre. It also warns that light shining into the lens, mixed very dark and very bright spots, and sources of dust, damp or smoke, such as machines that give off smoke in normal work, can interfere.

That is the right way to think about any video fire detection, including ours. It adds early warning. It does not replace certified detectors, sprinklers or your fire alarm panel. To see how the two differ, read fire alarm or smoke detection camera: what each one does.

• A purpose-built fire detection camera, such as the one Bosch makes. It is designed for the job and is a separate purchase, not something you add to cameras you already have.
• A camera or recorder with a smoke feature built in. A few camera makers include one on selected models. Check the model, the limits in its white paper and how the alert reaches you.
• Software on the cameras you already have. A program on a computer at your site reads the video from your recorder and watches for smoke and flame on every camera you connect. No new cameras. This is the route we offer.

Video fire detection is only as good as the picture and the scene. These are the usual causes of misses and false alarms.

No system can promise zero false alarms. A second, larger model that checks each event before you are alerted cuts them down. The best check is a trial on your own cameras, because only your site shows how steam, dust and light behave there.

• Steam, dust, fog and process smoke from machines that run all day.
• Welding flashes, sun glare, reflections and headlights that look like flame.
• A dirty, fogged or badly placed lens, or a camera that is too far from the area.
• A dark scene. Flame can show in the dark, but smoke needs some light to be seen.
• A camera that has been moved, covered or switched off.

If you can choose which cameras to connect first, start where a fire would do the most harm and where nobody is around at night.

• Godown and warehouse aisles, stacked stock and packing material.
• Electrical panels, switchgear rooms and generator areas.
• Loading bays, waste and scrap yards, and outdoor storage.
• Production areas with heat, dust or flammable material.
• Parts rooms, paint stores and service bays.

Keep your smoke detectors, sprinklers, extinguishers and fire alarm panel tested and in place. Software alerts are a layer on top. Rules for fire protection depend on where you are, so ask your fire authority and your insurer what your building needs before you change anything.

We are software, not a camera brand and not a fire alarm. Our software installs on a Windows computer at your site in 60 seconds and works with the cameras and recorders you already have: Hikvision and Prama, Dahua, CP Plus, TVT, Uniview, Axis, Hanwha, and any camera, DVR or NVR that supports RTSP or ONVIF.

• Early visual fire and smoke detection is standard on every site. Our own AI models, trained in-house, check every camera you connect every few seconds, day and night.
• A second, larger model double-checks each event before it reaches you.
• You get a photo with the camera and the time, on WhatsApp, Telegram or the Foreman app, while the event is still happening.
• How well a camera sees at night depends on the picture it gives at night.
• Recordings stay on site. Your recorder keeps recording.
• Free 7-day trial on up to 32 cameras, no card. Read more on fire and smoke detection.