SCDF's first 'smart' fire station opens in Punggol, housed with new neighbourhood police centre
SINGAPORE: Singapore's first "smart" fire station officially launched in Punggol on Friday (Feb 25), equipped with a range of technologies such as facial recognition for automated access control and the use of virtual reality to boost training.
Co-located with the new Punggol Neighbourhood Police Centre, it is the 23rd fire station in Singapore and has been in operation since Dec 30.
It will provide emergency response for Punggol town, including upcoming developments such as Punggol Digital District.
Both the fire station and the police centre share common spaces such as the gymnasium, smart classrooms and a multi-facade training tower, said the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in a joint media release.
This will facilitate the sharing of information and resources, as well as foster "enhanced rapport" within the Home Team, the agencies added.
There is also a community area that will allow SCDF and SPF to carry out community engagement training as well as outreach programmes.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the fire station and the police centre on Friday, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean said they are "an important addition" to the facilities in Punggol.
"A prepared community can make a huge difference during emergencies and help save lives. Punggol Fire Station and Punggol NPC will continue to play a key role towards achieving the Home Team’s mission – working together as one Home Team, and in partnership with the community – to keep Singapore safe and secure," said Mr Teo.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Automation, facial recognition and licence plate reader technologies are used at Punggol Fire Station to enhance security.
The automated fire station access control system, jointly conceptualised with the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX), enables self-registration of visitors using either physical identity cards or digital NRICs on the Singpass app.
This also frees up officers from patrolling or performing sentry duties, allowing them to focus on crucial frontline operational duties instead.
Also jointly developed with HTX is an integrated building management system that features a centralised console for monitoring and controlling various systems such as lights and fans.
It also allows for the monitoring of electrical services, water tanks, main fire alarm systems and lift services. Utility consumption reports can also be generated to identify abnormalities and enable prompt follow-up action.
A smart classroom aims to enhance training for fire station staff.
Equipped with interactive digital screens with live-streaming capabilities, it reduces the need for employees to travel physically to the Civil Defence Academy for certain training courses, lessons and assessments, said SCDF and SPF.
The smart classroom will also come with a training simulator. When fully developed, the Road Traffic Accident Extended Reality simulator will enhance training such as in vehicular extrication.
Another feature at Punggol Fire Station is a multi-facade training tower, the first of its kind in fire stations in Singapore.
Each floor of the seven-storey training tower has different simulations, such as residential apartment blocks, a warehouse, a commercial building and the deck of a ship.
"These offer the firefighters a range of scenarios beyond the day-to-day incidents that they typically respond to and thereby allowing them to hone and sharpen their repertoire of skills," said SCDF and SPF.
Other features include a 30m-long confined space training simulator, a dedicated post-incident decontamination facility for frontline responders, as well as an automated medical store with a self-checkout system that makes use of sensors and tracking devices to detect items taken.
It also has the largest green landscape area among all the SCDF's fire stations, with nine gardens spanning 2,500 sq m of plants. The station attained the BCA's Green Mark Gold Award in March 2020.
