Chicago Fire Department Testing Wireless System

Last spring, the Chicago Fire Department began testing the Fire Information and Rescue Equipment (FIRE) system which pinpoints the location of rescue workers inside a burning building.

The in-building sensors also can be equipped to measure smoke levels and temperature, alerting firefighters about conditions around them. There can be dozens of sensors in the building transmitting to a firefighter's corresponding sensor at any time…

The FIRE system was developed by the engineering department at the University of California, Berkeley. Research was prompted by the events of September 11, 2001 when incompatible two-way radios were unable to connect rescue workers to one another.

The in-building sensors send out an RF signal every two seconds, scanning for firefighters whose air tanks are equipped with wireless sensors that both receive and send transmissions to and from the building sensors installed.