System provides early detection, suppression of bus fires
The Kidde Automatic Fire Detection and Suppression System for school buses is designed to be installed in the engine compartment.

If a fire ignites in the compartment, the system detects it and notifies the driver with audible and visual alarms.

The audible alarm can be deactivated and the visual alarm can be viewed on a control panel (pictured) installed in the driver compartment.

Joey Peoples, manager of Kidde's commercial ground vehicle group, said the system can also automatically shut down a bus in the event of a fire.

"The system allows the driver to focus on his or her driving performance and the safety and well-being of the students," he added. "The system gives a very early warning if there is a fire hazard, providing the driver with a lot of time to evacuate passengers."

Early fire detection and suppression was a main priority for Kidde in designing the system, and this feature is particularly beneficial for school bus drivers who transport students with special needs.

"The sooner we can detect a problem, the more evacuation time you have for the passengers," Peoples said. "That's key when you have special-needs passengers because [they] tend to have mobility issues and require more time to exit the vehicle."

Kidde's Automatic Fire Detection and Suppression System can be installed on both special-needs buses and school buses that transport regular-ed students.