How Fiber Optic Fire Detection Systems Save Lives in Our Tunnels

In September 2019, a truck filled with cardboard caught fire inside the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel in Colorado. What could have ended up being a major disaster was resolved in three hours. Thanks to the fiber-optic fire detection system there were no casualties nor damage to the tunnel structure. This is exactly what the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) did when they installed a fiber-optic fire detection system, the LIOS DE.TECT, in the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel. They did it to ensure the safety of the 12 million vehicles that pass through the tunnel every year.

“The fire detection system is worth its weight in gold. It is a great system from a risk, insurance, and asset management perspective. The tunnel could have been down for weeks, or even months, if the cardboard in the box truck caught fire and damaged the tunnels’ structures. A closed tunnel results in a cost of lost commerce of hundreds of thousands of dollars per hour” [stated CDOT engineers].
How Fiber Optic Fire Detection Systems Save Lives in Our Tunnels
Luna Lios Sensing Cases April 2020
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