UV/IR fire detector with dual wavelength sensing IR channel

• US 5,311,167 A
• Filed: 08/14/1991
• Issued: 05/10/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Meggitt Avionics, Inc. (Parker-Hannifin Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Armtec Industries, Inc.
• Inventors: Plimpton, Jonathan C., Minott, George L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Williams, Hezron E.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Oda, Christine K.
• Application Number:
  US07/745,017
• Time in Patent Office: 1,000 Days
• Field of Search: 340/578, 340/587, 340/577, 250/338.1, 250/338.3, 250/339, 250/372, 250/554
• US Class Current: 340/578
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 17/12 Actuation by presence of radiation or particles, e.g. of infrared radiation or of ions
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/183 Single detectors using dual technologies G08B13/1672, G08B13/2448, G08B13/2494 take precedence

Abstract

A system for automatically detecting fires fueled by hydrocarbons and certain non-organics including hydrogen, hydrazine, magnesium, aluminum, potassium, ammonia and silane, which system has a low incidence of false alarms from incident radiation emitted by non-fire radiation sources such as the sun. The system includes a UV sensor assembly that both senses UV radiation in a predetermined spectral bandwidth and generates a first signal corresponding to the sensed radiation; an IR sensing assembly consisting of a single IR sensor that simultaneously senses IR radiation in two predetermined spectral bandwidths and generates a second signal corresponding to the IR radiation in at least one of the spectral regions; and a signal processor. The UV spectral bandwidth is such that the UV sensing assembly is responsive to UV radiation emitted by hydrocarbons and certain non-organics but non-responsive to solar UV radiation. The IR spectral bandwidths are selected so that one spectral region is responsive to IR radiation emitted by hydrocarbons and certain non-organics while the other is responsive to hydrocarbons only. Both IR spectral regions are selected so as to be largely non-responsive to solar IR radiation. The signal processor processes the first and second signals and generates a fire signal when the processed signals are indicative of a fire.

Claims

1. A means for automatically detecting fires fueled by hydrocarbons and by certain non-organics, where the certain non-organics includes hydrogen, hydrazine, magnesium, aluminum, potassium, ammonia and silane, the means having a low incidence of false alarms from incident ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) radiation emitted by non-fire radiation sources, comprising:

ultraviolet (UV) sensing means both for sensing UV wavelength radiation in a predetermined UV spectral region and for generating a first signal corresponding to the sensed UV radiation, said UV spectral region having a predetermined bandwidth selected such that said UV sensing means is both responsive to the incident UV radiation emitted by the fires fueled by the hydrocarbons and responsive to the incident UV radiation emitted by the fires fueled by the certain non-organics but non-responsive to both the incident UV radiation emitted by the sun and to the incident UV radiation emitted by the non-fire radiation sources having wavelength emissions greater than 275 nanometers;

infrared (IR) sensing means both for sensing IR radiation simultaneously in a first IR spectral region and a second IR spectral region and for generating a second signal corresponding to the IR radiation sensed in at least one of said IR spectral regions, said first and second IR spectral regions each being defined by predetermined bandwidths that are separate and distinct from each other;

wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region is selected such that said IR sensing means is both responsive to the incident IR radiation emitted from the fires fueled by the certain non-organics and responsive to the incident IR radiation emitted from the fires fueled by the hydrocarbons;

wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region is selected such that said IR sensing means senses the incident IR radiation emitted from the fires fueled by the hydrocarbons;

wherein the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second spectral regions are also established such that said IR sensing means is essentially non-responsive to the incident IR radiation emitted by the sun; and

signal processing means both for processing the first signal from said UV sensing means and the second signal from said IR sensing means and for generating a fire signal when the processed first and second signals are indicative of a fire.

2. The fire detection means of claim 1, in which said IR sensing means further comprises:

an IR optical dual bandpass filter being tuned to pass IR radiation that lies in the predetermined bandwidths for said first and second IR spectral regions;

a filter window that filters the incident IR radiation emitted by the fires and the non-fire radiation sources so only a predetermined bandwidth of the incident IR radiation passes therethrough to said IR dual bandpass filter, the predetermined bandwidth of said filter window is established so that at least IR radiation in both the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second spectral regions is passed, said filter window being disposed in front of said IR dual bandpass filter; and

an IR sensing element disposed behind said IR dual bandpass filter, said sensing element being responsive to the IR radiation in the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second spectral regions and generating a signal proportional to the incident IR radiation filtered by said filter window and said IR optical dual bandpass filter and being sensed by said IR sensing element.

3. The fire detection means of claim 2, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said UV spectral region is 195 nanometers to 275 nanometers;

wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region is centered at 2.9 microns; and

wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region is centered at 4.4 microns.

4. The fire detection means of claim 3, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said filter window is 2.5 microns to 6.0 microns.

5. The fire detection means of claim 4, wherein said IR sensing element is selected from a group consisting of a thin film thermopile sensor, a pyroelectric sensor or a lead selenide sensor.

6. The fire detection means of claim 4, wherein said IR sensing element is an IR sensor that has an unfiltered spectral response which includes the spectral region of 2.0 to 5.0 microns.

7. The fire detection means of claim 1, in which said IR sensing means further comprises:

first and second filter windows, said filter windows filtering the incident IR radiation emitted by the fire and the non-fire radiation sources so only a predetermined bandwidth of the incident IR radiation passes therethrough, the predetermined bandwidth of said filter windows is established so that at least IR radiation in both the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second spectral regions is passed;

a first IR filter disposed behind said first filter window so as to receive the IR radiation passing through said first filter window and being tuned to pass only IR radiation that lies in the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region;

a second IR filter disposed behind said second filter window so as to receive the IR radiation passing through said second filter window and being tuned to pass only IR radiation that lies in the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region;

a first IR sensing element disposed behind said first IR filter, said first sensing element being at least responsive to the IR radiation in the predetermined bandwidth of said first spectral region and generating a signal proportional to the incident IR radiation filtered by said first filter window and said first IR filter and being sensed by said first sensing element; and

a second IR sensing element disposed behind said second IR filter, said second sensing element being at least responsive to the IR radiation in the predetermined bandwidth of said second spectral region and generating a signal proportional to the incident IR radiation filtered by said second filter window and said second IR filter and being sensed by said second sensing element, wherein the signals generated by said first and said second IR sensing elements are combined to form the second signal to said signal processing means.

8. The fire detection means of claim 7, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said UV spectral region is 195 nanometers to 275 nanometers;

wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region is centered at 2.9 microns; and

wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region is centered at 4.4 microns.

9. The fire detection means of claim 8, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said first and second filter windows is 2.5 microns to 6.0 microns.

10. The fire detection means of claim 9, wherein said first and second IR sensing elements are selected from a group consisting of a thin film thermopile sensor, a pyroelectric sensor or a lead selenide sensor.

11. The fire detection means of claim 9, wherein said first and second IR sensing elements are IR sensors that have an unfiltered spectral response which includes the spectral region of 2.0 to 5.0 microns.

12. The fire detection means of claim 1, in which said IR sensing means further comprises:

a filter window that filters the incident IR radiation emitted by the fire and the non-fire sources so only a predetermined bandwidth of the incident IR radiation passes therethrough, the predetermined bandwidth of said filter window is established so that at least IR radiation in both the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second spectral regions is passed;

a first IR filter disposed behind said filter window so as to receive the IR radiation passing through said filter window and being tuned to pass only IR radiation that lies in the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region;

a second IR filter disposed behind said filter window so as to receive the IR radiation passing through said filter window and being tuned to pass only IR radiation that lies in the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region;

a first IR sensing element disposed behind said first IR filter, said first sensing element being at least responsive to the IR radiation in the predetermined bandwidth of said first spectral region and generating a signal proportional to the incident IR radiation filtered by said filter window and said first IR filter and being sensed by said first sensing element; and

a second IR sensing element disposed behind said second IR filter, said second sensing element being at least responsive to the IR radiation in the predetermined bandwidth of said second spectral region and generating a signal proportional to the incident IR radiation filtered by said filter window and said second IR filter and being sensed by said second sensing element, wherein the signals generated by said first and said second IR sensing elements are combined to form the second signal to said signal processing means.

13. The fire detection means of claim 12, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said UV spectral region is 195 nanometers to 275 nanometers;

wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region is centered at 2.9 microns; and

wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region is centered at 4.4 microns.

14. The fire detection means of claim 13, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said filter window is between 2.5 microns and 6.0 microns.

15. The fire detection means of claim 14, wherein said first and second IR sensing elements are are selected from a group consisting of a thin film thermopile sensor, a pyroelectric sensor or a lead selenide sensor.

16. The fire detection means of claim 14, wherein said first and second IR sensing elements are IR sensors that have an unfiltered spectral response which includes the spectral region of 2.0 to 5.0 microns.

17. A fire detection system for automatically detecting fires fueled by hydrocarbons and by certain non-organics, where the certain non-organics includes hydrogen, hydrazine, magnesium, aluminum, potassium, ammonia and silane, the system having a low incidence of false alarms from incident ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) radiation emitted by non-fire radiation sources, comprising:

a first optical sensing channel being configured so as to sense UV wavelength radiation in a predetermined UV spectral region and generating a first signal corresponding to the sensed UV radiation, said UV spectral region having a predetermined bandwidth selected such that said first optical sensing channel is both responsive to the incident UV radiation emitted by the fires fueled by the hydrocarbons and responsive to the incident UV radiation emitted by the fires fueled by the certain non-organics but non-responsive to both the incident UV radiation emitted by the sun and to the incident UV radiation emitted by the non-fire radiation sources having wavelength emissions greater than 275 nanometers;

a second optical sensing channel being configured so as to simultaneously sense IR radiation in a first IR spectral region and a second IR spectral region and to generate a second signal corresponding to the IR radiation sensed in at least one of said spectral regions, said first and second IR spectral regions each being defined by predetermined bandwidths that are separate and distinct from each other;

wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region is selected such that said second optical channel is both responsive to the incident IR radiation emitted from the fires fueled by the certain non-organics and responsive to the incident IR radiation emitted from the fires fueled by the hydrocarbons;

wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region is selected such that said second optical sensing channel senses the incident IR radiation emitted from the fires fueled by the hydrocarbons;

wherein the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second IR spectral regions are also established such that said second optical sensing channel is essentially non-responsive to the incident IR radiation emitted by the sun; and

signal processing circuitry both for processing said first and said second signals and for generating a fire signal when the processed first and second signals are indicative of a fire.

18. The fire detection system of claim 17, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said UV spectral region is 195 nanometers to 275 nanometers;

wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region is centered at 2.9 microns; and

wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region is centered at 4.4 microns.

19. The fire detection system of claim 17, in which said second optical sensing channel comprises:

an IR optical dual bandpass filter being tuned to pass IR radiation that lies in the predetermined bandwidths for said first and second IR spectral regions;

a filter window that filters the incident IR radiation emitted by the fire and the non-fire radiation sources so only a predetermined bandwidth of the incident IR radiation passes therethrough to said IR dual bandpass filter, the predetermined bandwidth of said filter window is established so that at least IR radiation in both the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second spectral regions is passed, said filter window being disposed in front of said IR dual bandpass filter; and

an IR sensing element disposed behind said IR dual bandpass filter, said sensing element being at least responsive to the IR radiation in the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second spectral regions and generating a signal proportional to the incident IR radiation filtered by said filter window and said IR optical dual bandpass filter and being sensed by said IR sensing element.

20. The fire detection system of claim 19, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said filter window is 2.5 microns to 6.0 microns.

21. The fire detection system of claim 20, wherein said IR sensing element is selected from a group consisting of a thin film thermopile sensor, a pyroelectric sensor or a lead selenide sensor.

22. The fire detection system of claim 20, wherein said IR sensing element is an IR sensor that has an unfiltered spectral response which includes the spectral region of 2.0 to 5.0 microns.

23. The fire detection system of claim 17, in which said second optical sensing channel comprises:

first and second filter windows, said filter windows filtering the incident IR radiation emitted by the fire and the non-fire radiation sources so only a predetermined bandwidth of the incident IR radiation passes therethrough, the predetermined bandwidth of said filter windows is established so that at least IR radiation in both the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second spectral regions is passed;

a first IR filter disposed behind said first filter window so as to receive the IR radiation passing through said first filter window and being tuned to pass only IR radiation that lies in the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region;

a second IR filter disposed behind said second filter window so as to receive the IR radiation passing through said second filter window and being tuned to pass only IR radiation that lies in the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region;

a first IR sensing element disposed behind said first IR filter, said first sensing element being at least responsive to the IR radiation in the predetermined bandwidth of said first spectral region and generating a signal proportional to the incident IR radiation filtered by said first filter window and said first IR filter and being sensed by said first sensing element; and

a second IR sensing element disposed behind said second IR filter, said second sensing element being at least responsive to the IR radiation in the predetermined bandwidth of said second spectral region and generating a signal proportional to the incident IR radiation filtered by said second filter window and said second IR filter and being sensed by said second sensing element, wherein the signals generated by said first and said second IR sensing elements are combined to form the second signal to said signal processing circuitry.

24. The fire detection system of claim 23, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said first and second filter windows is 2.5 microns to 6.0 microns.

25. The fire detection system of claim 24, wherein said first and second IR sensing elements are selected from a group consisting of a thin film thermopile sensor, a pyroelectric sensor or a lead selenide sensor.

26. The fire detection system of claim 24, wherein said first and second IR sensing elements are IR sensors that have an unfiltered spectral response which includes the spectral region of 2.0 to 5.0 microns.

27. The fire detection system of claim 17, in which said second optical sensing channel further comprises:

a filter window that filters the incident IR radiation emitted by the fire and the non-fire radiation sources so only a predetermined bandwidth of the incident IR radiation passes therethrough, the predetermined bandwidth of said filter window is established so at least IR radiation in both the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second spectral regions is passed;

a first IR filter disposed behind said filter window so as to receive the IR radiation passing through said filter window and being tuned to pass only IR radiation that lies in the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region;

a second IR filter disposed behind said filter window so as to receive the IR radiation passing through said filter window and being tuned to pass only IR radiation that lies in the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region;

a first IR sensing element disposed behind said first IR filter, said first sensing element being at least responsive to the IR radiation in the predetermined bandwidth of said first spectral region and generating a signal proportional to the incident IR radiation filtered by said filter window and said first IR filter and being sensed by said first sensing element; and

a second IR sensing element disposed behind said second IR filter, said second sensing element being at least responsive to the IR radiation in the predetermined bandwidth of said second spectral region and generating a signal proportional to the incident IR radiation filtered by said filter window and said second IR filter and being sensed by said second sensing element, wherein the signals generated by said first and said second IR sensing elements are combined to form the second signal to said signal processing circuitry.

28. The fire detection system of claim 27, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said filter window is 2.5 microns to 6.0 microns.

29. The fire detection system of claim 28, wherein said first and second IR sensing elements are are selected from a group consisting of a thin film thermopile sensor, a pyroelectric sensor or a lead selenide sensor.

30. The fire detection system of claim 28, wherein said first and second IR sensing elements are IR sensors that have an unfiltered spectral response which includes the spectral region of 2.0 to 5.0 microns.

31. An infrared (IR) detector for detecting IR radiation emitted by fires fueled by hydrocarbons and by certain non-organics, where the certain non-organics includes hydrogen, hydrazine, magnesium, aluminum, potassium, ammonia and silane, comprising:

an IR optical dual bandpass filter being tuned to pass IR radiation in both a first and second IR spectral region, said first and second spectral regions each being defined by predetermined bandwidths that are separate and distinct from each other;

a filter window that filters the incident IR radiation emitted by the fire and the non-fire radiation sources so only a predetermined bandwidth of the incident IR radiation passes therethrough to said IR duel bandpass filter, the predetermined bandwidth of said filter window is established so that at least IR radiation in both the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second spectral regions is passed, said filter window being disposed in front of said IR duel bandpass filter; and

an IR sensing element, disposed behind said IR dual bandpass filter, being at least responsive to the IR radiation in the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second IR spectral regions and generating a signal proportional to the incident IR radiation, filtered by said filter window and said IR optical dual bandpass filter, sensed in at least one of said IR spectral regions, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region is selected such that said IR sensing element is both responsive to the incident IR radiation emitted from the fires fueled by the certain non-organics and responsive to the incident IR radiation emitted from the fires fueled by the hydrocarbons, the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region is selected such that said IR sensing element is responsive to the incident IR radiation emitted from the fires fueled by the hydrocarbons, the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second IR spectral regions are also established such that said IR sensing element is essentially non-responsive to the incident IR radiation emitted by the sun.

32. The IR detector of claim 31, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region is centered at 2.9 microns and the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region is centered at 4.4 microns.

33. The IR detector of claim 32, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said filter window is 2.5 microns to 6.0 microns.

34. The IR detector of claim 33, wherein said IR sensing element is selected from a group consisting of a thin film thermopile sensor, a pyroelectric sensor or a lead selenide sensor.

35. The IR detector of claim 34, wherein said IR sensing element is an IR sensor that has an unfiltered spectral response which includes the spectral region of 2.0 to 5.0 microns.

36. A fire detection system for automatically detecting fires fueled by hydrocarbons and by certain non-organics, where the certain non-organics includes hydrogen, hydrazine, magnesium, aluminum, potassium, ammonia and silane, the system having a low incidence of false alarms from incident ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) radiation emitted by non-fire radiation sources, comprising:

a first optical sensing channel being configured so as to sense UV wavelength radiation in a predetermined UV spectral region and generating a first signal corresponding to the sensed UV radiation, said UV spectral region having a predetermined bandwidth selected such that said first optical sensing channel senses both the incident UV radiation emitted by the fires fueled by the hydrocarbons and the incident UV radiation emitted by the fires fueled by the certain non-organics but is essentially non-responsive to both the incident UV radiation emitted by the sun and to the incident UV radiation emitted by the non-fire radiation sources having wavelength emissions greater than 275 nanometers;

a second optical sensing channel being configured to sense IR radiation in a first IR spectral region and to generate a second signal corresponding to the sensed IR radiation, said first IR spectral region being defined by a predetermined bandwidth, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region is selected such that said second optical channel senses both the incident IR radiation emitted from the fires fueled by the certain non-organics and the incident IR radiation emitted by the fires fueled by the hydrocarbons;

a third optical sensing channel being configured to sense IR radiation in a second IR spectral region, and to generate a third signal corresponding to the sensed IR radiation, said second IR spectral region being defined by a predetermined bandwidth separate and distinct from the bandwidth for said first IR spectral region, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region is selected such that said third optical sensing channel senses the incident IR radiation emitted from the fires fueled by the hydrocarbons;

wherein the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second IR spectral regions are also established such that said second and third optical sensing channels are essentially non-responsive to the incident IR radiation emitted by the sun; and

signal processing circuitry both for processing said first, said second and said third signals and for generating a fire signal when the processed first and second signals are indicative of a fire fueled by the certain non-organics or when the processed first, second and third signals are indicative of a fire fueled by the hydrocarbons.

37. The fire detection system of claim 36, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said UV spectral region is 195 nanometers to 275 nanometers;

wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region is centered at 2.9 microns; and

wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region is centered at 4.4 microns.

38. The fire detection system of claim 36, in which said second optical sensing channel comprises:

a first filter window, said filter window filtering the incident IR radiation emitted by the fire and the non-fire radiation sources so only a predetermined bandwidth of the incident IR radiation passes therethrough, the predetermined bandwidth of said filter window is established so at least IR radiation in both the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second IR spectral regions is passed;

a first IR filter disposed behind said first filter window so as to receive the incident IR radiation passing therethrough and being tuned to pass IR radiation that lies in the predetermined bandwidth for said first IR spectral region; and

a first IR sensing element disposed behind said first IR filter, said first sensing element being at least responsive to the IR radiation in the predetermined bandwidth of said first spectral regions and generating a signal proportional to the sensed IR radiation.

39. The fire detection system of claim 38, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said first filter window is 2.5 microns to 6.0 microns.

40. The fire detection system of claim 39, wherein said first IR sensing element is selected from a group consisting of a thin film thermopile sensor, a pyroelectric sensor or a lead selenide sensor.

41. The fire detection system of claim 39, wherein said IR sensing element is an IR sensor that has an unfiltered spectral response which includes the spectral region of 2.0 to 5.0 microns.

42. The fire detection system of claim 36, in which said third optical sensing channel comprises:

a second filter window, said filter window filtering the incident IR radiation emitted by the fire and the non-fire radiation sources so only a predetermined bandwidth of the incident IR radiation passes therethrough, the predetermined bandwidth of said filter window is established so at least IR radiation in both the predetermined bandwidths of said first and second IR spectral regions is passed;

a second IR filter disposed behind said second filter window so as to receive the incident IR radiation passing therethrough and being tuned to pass IR radiation that lies in the predetermined bandwidth for said second IR spectral region; and

a second IR sensing element disposed behind said second IR filter, said second sensing element being at least responsive to the IR radiation in the predetermined bandwidth of said second spectral region and generating a signal proportional to the sensed IR radiation.

43. The fire detection system of claim 42, wherein the predetermined bandwidth for said second filter window is 2.5 microns to 6.0 microns.

44. The fire detection system of claim 43, wherein said second IR sensing element is selected from a group consisting of a thin film thermopile sensor, a pyroelectric sensor or a lead selenide sensor.

45. The fire detection system of claim 43, wherein said IR sensing element is an IR sensor that has an unfiltered spectral response which includes the spectral region of 2.0 to 5.0 microns.

46. A method for automatically detecting fires fueled by hydrocarbons and by certain non-organics, where the certain non-organics includes hydrogen, hydrazine, magnesium, aluminum, potassium, ammonia and silane, the method having a low incidence of false alarms from incident ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) radiation emitted by non-fire radiation sources, comprising the steps of:

sensing UV wavelength radiation in a predetermined UV spectral region having a predetermined bandwidth, the bandwidth being established such that the incident UV radiation emitted by the fires fueled by the hydrocarbons and the incident UV radiation emitted by the fires fueled by the certain non-organics is sensed but the incident UV radiation emitted by both the sun and by the non-fire radiation sources having wavelength emissions greater than 275 nanometers is excluded;

generating a first signal corresponding to the incident UV radiation sensed;

selectively filtering the incident IR radiation emitted by the fire and non-fire radiation sources into a first and second IR spectral region, the first and second spectral regions each being defined by predetermined bandwidths that are separate and distinct from each other;

wherein said selectively filtering further includes selecting predetermined bandwidths for the first and second spectral regions so that said selectively filtering of the incident IR radiation in a first spectral region filters the incident IR radiation emitted so that only predetermined IR spectra emitted by the fires fueled by the certain non-organics and the fires fueled by the hydrocarbons is transmitted and so that said selectively filtering of the incident IR radiation in a second spectral region filters the incident IR radiation emitted so that only predetermined IR spectra emitted by the fires fueled by the hydrocarbons is transmitted;

simultaneously sensing the selectively filtered IR radiation and generating a second signal corresponding to the incident IR radiation sensed in at least one of said spectral regions;

processing the first and the second signals; and

generating a fire signal when the processed first and second signals are indicative of a fire.

47. The method for automatically detecting fires of claim 46, further including the step of pre-filtering the incident IR radiation emitted by the fire and non-fire radiation sources so that only IR radiation in a third predetermined IR spectral region is transmitted, before said selectively filtering IR radiation into first and second spectral regions.