One group of people that societies around the world are consistent in their protection of is children. In recent decades more and more attention has been given to protecting them at school – traditionally seen as a ‘haven’ of safety. In the modern age, unfortunately, this is no longer something that can be taken for granted, and so security is often stepped up in schools to counter threats. One such situation was in Frederiksberg, Denmark, where schools were having problems with arson.

The Challenge

A combination of boredom, rebelliousness and antisocial behaviour was on the rise, and lead to a number of arson incidents in public schools in Frederiksberg. Waste containers were being set alight, which caused a threat to those around the school and also explosively increased maintenance costs. In fact, in some cases, classrooms had to be closed down to be rebuilt.

The solution was developed by Hikvision, with rapid integration with Mirasys. This covered 17 public schools across a district, all managed by one control centre, running the Mirasys Video Management System (VMS).

The Solution

The solution was a combination of a thermal camera to identify any fire risks and a DarkFighter camera for clear images. The images from the thermal camera alert operators to the raised heat signature of a potential fire and the DarkFighter camera gives clear images for them to verify this. The two combined give operators the ability to detect a fire before it gets out of control and call the fire brigade.

The Hikvision cameras were integrated into the Mirasys VMS very quickly, making the installation straightforward, and the systems work seamlessly together. The camera combo was used in all 17 schools, giving them all the same protection, and all are managed by the same control centre. In 2017 the municipality experienced 8 arson incidents, and were able to get to the fire and start extinguishing it within 6-7 minutes on all occasions, thanks to the cameras ability to flag an issue.

Jack Creutzberg, Security Advisor for the Fredriksburg municipality, gives an example: “The system came into its own in a situation where a fire could have been direct threat to a main school building. It was detected and put out before it posed a threat to the main population of one of the schools. The only damage inflicted was to the waste container itself, making the incident both casualty-free and low-cost – the perfect combination! We are very happy with the system and can breathe much more easily now this threat is managed, and minimised.”