Episode 52: Lumkani Fire Detection

Smart Firefighting

Lumkani is a company that provides fire detection devices to informal settlements. The company’s fire detector is specifically designed to monitor informal settlements for rises in temperature. Millions of Rands of damage has been saved by these devices.

The device was first conceived as a solution to problems with using standard fire detection systems in informal settlements. Most fire detectors monitor smoke and sound an alarm when the smoke has built up. Unfortunately, this causes many false alarms as these settlements tend to produce a lot of smoke. The Lumkani Fire Alarm measures rise in temperature, which greatly reduced the number of false alarms caused by smoke. Another feature added was a transmitter and responder. Informal settlements are built on top of each other leaving little space between each home. In the event of a fire, a neighbor is in just as much danger as the resident. By transmitting the alarm to the surrounding detectors, the community can react and put out the fire before it becomes a large problem.

Fire is used to warm us, cook food, and light our homes but it is a destructive force. The Lumkani fire detectors warm people before a fire becomes a disaster. Their clever design and the innovative way they communicate has made them an invaluable tool in keeping people in informal settlements safe. If you want to learn more about Lumkani visit here.

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