DRAFT OF INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

In Philippines as reflected in Fig. 1.0; from the year 2012 to 2016, the approximate

average number of fire incidents occurring per annum is 14,464. There is a total of 72,318 cases

within five years. The scope of the fire varies per incident which is proportional to the estimated

damages to property. The damage to property estimated per year during those five years has an

average amount of 3,771,762,124 Philippine Pesos. For five years, the accumulated estimated

cost of damage is 18,858,810,620 Philippine Pesos. There is a total of 4091 injuries and 1203

deaths involving fire. In this number of incidents, part of this involves fire accidents in buildings,

multiple occupant residences and establishments (BFP Nationwide Fire Incidents Statistics for

CY 2012-2016, 2019).

Fig. 1.0 – BFP Fire Incidents in

Philippines Annual Report For 2012 to
2016
 Based on the data from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Fig 1.0, it shows that the

trend of fire incidents represented in Fig. 1.1 is going upwards. The trend shows that the fire

incidents are rapidly increasing. The estimated damages and the number of casualties also show

that a massive amount of resources and life is at risk due to fire accidents.

Fig. 1.1 – BFP Fire Incidents in

Philippines Annual Report For 2012 to
2016 Graph

The risks of fire especially in establishments has a chance to increase due to the imposed

Memorandum Circular No. 10 of 2020 by the Civil Service Commission of the Philippines.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new

strain of virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In 2019,

the strain of virus was first detected in Wuhan, China. (“What is COVID-19?”, 2020). Due to the

pandemic COVID-19, the government imposed to all government personnel different kinds of

work arrangement such as Work-from-Home, Skeleton Workforce, Four-day Workweek,

Staggered Working Hours and Other Alternative Work Arrangements. For each arrangement
there are different guidelines to be followed, but the main point is that government agencies

could not employ 100% of their workforce. (Civil Service Commission of the Philippines, 2020).

Private companies as well, in light of the pandemic imposed their own set of guidelines and

alternative work arrangements based on the rules for Extended Community Quarantine, General

Community Quarantine and their modified counterparts. Private companies as well may not

exhibit 100% of their workforce. There is a possibility that private companies may lack of safety

and monitoring personnel. The deployable fire control officers or firefighters might be scarce as

well due to the pandemic. The scarcity of safety and monitoring personnel and firefighters may

be a premise to a slower detection and control of fire. Slower control of fire could accumulate

more damages to property and casualties.

Fire accidents have become commonly occurring disasters not just in Philippines, but the

whole world. Due to these incidents, fire detection and fire alarm systems became an integral

part in constructions especially in establishments and other facilities with or without occupants.

In order to reduce these incidents, to reduce the rate of its incline and to mitigate such disasters,

many methods and technologies have been proposed for early detection of fires. (Jadon, Omama,

Varshney, Ansari & Sharma, 2019)

Statement of the Problem

The annual increase of fire incidents is alarming especially that it involves casualty and

damages to property. Through precaution, fire could be prevented in various ways, but accidents

like fire are inevitable. In order to mitigate the risks of fire the investigation should be focused on

what cost-effective methods should be implemented in order to detect fires automatically and

earlier in line with the current available technology.

 For early detection of fire, the current system which is commercially available is called

Fire Alarm and Detection System (FDAS). FDAS is a straightforward system, but the system and

the maintenance involved is expensive especially the devices that follow quality standards. The

sensor is the vital aspect of an FDAS for detection. Low-cost sensors are subpar in terms of

operational parameters and physical capabilities compared to quality standard sensors. In order

to compensate for this, what are the proper methodologies that must be implemented to optimize

the use of low cost sensors?

The problem in most systems implemented is the lack of interface. FDAS requires

appropriate personnel to operate it which requires training and time. With the lack of easy-to-use

graphical user interface (GUI), the system is less convenient to configure and control.

The most common setup of FDAS only involves the fire and smoke detectors, fire alarms

and the control unit. The notification of the common setup is limited to audio alarms. On the

occupant side, in terms of information about the hazard during a fire incident the audio alarm is

not comprehensive. It does not inform the an occupant about the dangers involved.

Rationale of the Research

The fundamental significance of this project/research lies in the problem of increasing

number of fire related incidents as well as the improvement of the functionalities of fire detection

systems. This study could contribute to the methodologies applied in early detection of fires as

well as the improvement in convenience of the system to any user.

Objectives

The aim of this paper is to propose a low-cost IoT system capable of detecting and

monitoring gas particle levels, smoke and temperature in a certain area using multiple sensor

input.

- To implement appropriate methods to optimize usage and improve the performance of

low-cost gas particle, smoke and temperature sensor.

- To design a GUI that represents the data acquired from a specific location of sensor in a

building map or floor plan.

- To design an IoT system that broadcasts the fire hazards in the premises through the

network for the awareness of the occupants.

BFP Nationwide Fire Incidents Statistics for CY 2012-2016. (2019, July 31). Retrieved June 11,

2020, from https://data.gov.ph/?q=dataset%2Fbfp-nationwide-fire-incidents-statistics-cy-2012-

2016

Jadon, A., Omama, M., Varshney, A., Ansari, S., Sharma, R. (2019). FireNet: A Specialized

Lightweight Fire & Smoke Detection Model for Real-Time IoT Applications.

Civil Service Commission of the Philippines. (2020). Memorandum Circular (MC No. 10, s. 2020):
Revised Interim Guidelines for Alternative Work Arrangements and Support Mechanisms
for Workers in the Government During the Period of State of National Emergency Due to
COVID-19 Pandemic. Author.
What is Covid 19? (2020, June 11). Retrieved June 14, 2020, from http://www.covid19.gov.ph/