The acoustic conditions of the audible fire alarm devices in a university dormitory

Many fires have occurred in a residential building, and a high percentage of death is due to the fact that residents did not notice the breakout of a fire because they were sleeping. Although both the sound level and the type of signal of the alarm source affect the hearing condition of the residents, the alarm bell has been commonly used as the main audible fire alarm device in Korea. The aim of this study is to investigate the acoustic conditions that the audible fire alarm device should have in order to provide optimum benefit to the residents in terms of hearing condition. Measurements on the propagations of various sound sources such as white noise, alarm bell, horn(fire bell) and electronic siren were performed in a university dormitory and compared with the minimum sound level of 75 dBA, which can reasonably be expected to awaken a sleeping person in most circumstances. Furthermore, the required acoustic conditions of the fire alarm devices for the university dormitory were investigated using computer simulation.