Digital fire-fighting at Beijing Olympic venues

(BEIJING, October 18) -- A digital fire-fighting system will be available in all venues of the Beijing Olympic Games, the Beijing Fire-fighting Bureau announced on Wednesday.

The move is unprecedented in the history of the Olympic Games, the bureau said.

The squad put off the fire at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park in just three minutes according to the following procedure: determination of the fire position through information data; choice of the best route to the place; deployment of the firemen and the accomplishment of the mission. This is what the press saw at a recent drive.

The measure has been proven to be not only rapid, but also economical, said Beijing Fire-Fighting Bureau spokesman Luo Yuan. The money used in the scheme is just hundredth or thousandth of the existing practice, he added.

To meet the demand of fire-fighting in the Olympic projects, Beijing's fire brigade joined Tsinghua University and other agencies in researching and developing the digital fire-fighting project and the synchronized training system. The new equipment and technologies have been applied in a number of venues and all the 93 venues, covering the competition and training venues and related facilities will be equipped with them by the end of the year.