What device detects and alerts occupants to a fire?

• A. Fire Growth
• B. Fire Detection
• C. Fire Alarm
• D. Evacuation

Answer: (C)

A fire alarm is the system that both detects a fire and alerts occupants to it. Detectors—like smoke or heat sensors—notice signs of a fire, and the fire alarm control panel triggers audible alarms and visual signals to warn people to evacuate. This combination of sensing and communicating danger is what makes the fire alarm the correct choice. Fire detection, by itself, means sensing the fire but not necessarily issuing warnings to occupants; fire growth describes how the fire develops over time; evacuation is the action people take to leave the building.