Improve safety

The main cause of casualties in indoor fire are smoke and hazardous emissions, which significantly reduce the chance of escape and furthermore cause damage to equipment and property even far beyond the burned area.  Selecting the appropriate cables can limit the number of casualties and consequential damage.

Cables are everywhere and in large quantities. They pass walls and floors and can thus carry the fire from one compartment to another. And all cables together may represent a considerable amount of fuel in case of fire.

Fire safe cables

Studies prove over and over that cables with improved fire safety helps to limit the spread of fire and reduces the formation of dense smoke and irritating gases. Under the brand name ALSECURE, Nexans offers a comprehensive range of fire-safe cables. Just like our normal cables, ALSECURE has been carefully designed to ensure fast and efficient installation.

Two parameters play a role in the further development and consequences of a fire: fire propagation and smoke generation.

Fire propagation

Cables run everywhere in the building, through walls, from floor to floor. They can form the path through which a fire spreads to adjacent rooms or floors. By preventing this propagation along cables, a fire can spread less quickly. 

Smoke development

Smoke development mainly influences the consequences of a fire. The hot smoke gases generated by a fire fill a building within minutes and may be black and impenetrable.

Even small amounts of this smoke can make you dizzy and short of breath. In fact, the majority of deaths in fires are due to inhalation of the combustion gases rather than death by burning. Smoke and drowsiness impede smooth evacuation. 

Smoke, moreover, is not only harmful to people. The corrosive gases that are released damages equipment and the structure of the building, and even in case of a relatively limited fire, the smoke damage can still devastate the whole building (and the machinery inside!). Electronics are particularly sensitive to corrosive gases.

Reducing the amount of smoke and toxic gases and the intensity of heat is therefore the key to save lives and limit material damage: it gives more time for a smooth and safe evacuation and facilitates the work of rescue teams and fire fighters.

In short: cables with reduced smoke development:

Provide a smoke-free escape route
Protects the buildings structure
Limits the smoke damage to equipment
Facilitates the work of firefighters in the building.

Benefits of ALSECURE® wires and cables

Electrical cables play a vital role in fire safety in buildings. By using the halogen-free ALSECURE cables with B2ca/Cca classification, fire safety is significantly improved compared to standard cables. This makes ALSECURE cables ideal for use in projects where fire safety is particularly important.

• Significantly delay of fire propagation, thus saving valuable time for evacuation and fire fighting
• Reducing dense smoke and acid gases, the main cause of fire-related deaths and valuable damage to building and equipment
• Reduction of heat release
• A wide range of products, adapted to Dutch regulations, building types and electrical applications.

Alsecure properties

All Nexans ALSECURE® cables are halogen-free and non-flammable.

Little smoke propagation in case of fire
Less heat in case of fire
Easy strippable
UV-resistant
PEP EcoPassport (EPD)

Learn more about the improved ALSECURE fire safe cables from Nexans