CAM-473
Smoke and flame at the foot of a car plugged into the charger
Deep night on the charging level. A white car is parked in a bay painted blue, with the connector plugged in and the cable running to the charge point on the wall. At the foot of the bodywork there is a small flame and a column of grey smoke climbing the wall to the ventilation grille. To the left, behind the pillar, another car is parked. IRIS sees the smoke from the first moment; with a thermal camera it also reads the heat before there is any flame.
Turn on IRIS Vision
AI-generated image
What IRIS understands
What it recognises in this scene
- flame at the foot of the vehicle
- column of smoke climbing the wall
- car plugged in on the charging bay
- charge point on the wall
- ventilation grille the smoke is reaching
- car parked in the bay next to it
What this camera measures
An alert says something is happening. The reading says how much.
- 35 sTime with smoke
- 23:47Time of the first smoke
- 5Vehicles in shot
- 3Charging bays in shot
- 0People in shot
The figures on this screen are an example from the illustration, not any client's measurement.
The rule
You decide once. IRIS applies it always.
If
smoke or flame appears in the charging bays area
Then
- alert the control desk and the fire service with the level, the bay and the time
- save the video from one minute before the first smoke
- count the vehicles and the people still on the level
The instruction that set it up«Alert me the moment you see smoke or flame in the charging area, even if no alarm has gone off.»
What changes
What changes for whoever runs the car park
A basement full of cars is the worst place for a fire: the smoke has nowhere to go, the ramps act as chimneys, and a battery fire is not put out like a petrol one. The European Commission published specific guidance in 2025 on electric vehicle fires in car parks, and that alone means it has to be looked at differently. Bringing the alert forward changes everything that follows: who is called, which way people are evacuated and how many cars are still inside when the level is closed.
What people usually ask
Does IRIS know if the car’s battery is going wrong inside?
No. The camera sees the smoke, the flame and the firelight on the floor; with a thermal camera it also reads the surface heat, which rises before there is any flame. What is happening inside the cell is told by the vehicle’s own battery management system, not by a camera. IRIS contributes the picture and the exact minute it started.
Why is a fire in an underground car park different?
Because the smoke has no way out and there are dozens of fuel tanks and batteries a few metres away. The European Commission published specific guidance in 2025 on electric vehicle fires in car parks, a sign that the problem is treated on its own terms. Seeing the smoke in the first moments, rather than once it has filled the level, changes the response time and which exits can still be used.
Does IRIS replace the car park’s fire detectors?
No. The detectors and the suppression system remain in charge and are not touched. IRIS works alongside them: it looks, and in a tall open space smoke is seen sooner by a camera than by a ceiling detector. It also says exactly where, with a picture, which is precisely what is needed to decide the way in and the way out.
Other cameras
- CAM-460 · How many bays are left, and of what kind
- CAM-461 · Four minutes going round and not one free space
- CAM-462 · The sign gets it right because the number comes from the bays themselves
- CAM-463 · Six cars waiting and the queue is already out on the street
- CAM-464 · There is a queue because nobody gets through that machine
- CAM-465 · Two cars crossed on a single opening
Demo · IRIS at work
Everything comes in. Only what matters gets through.
This sums up what IRIS does with one alert, from the moment it appears until it is closed. The real screen holds far more; this is the main thread.
- The alert fires
- It lands in the tray
- You open it
- You confirm or dismiss
Next step
How long before somebody comes down that corridor at four in the morning?
13 cases: 12 raise an alert when something happens and 1 only measure. You see each image as it is, and then with what IRIS understands on top.
Who sees the child who has fallen at the far end of the playground?
13 cases: 12 raise an alert when something happens and 1 only measure. You see each image as it is, and then with what IRIS understands on top.
And the best part
We would rather promise less.Let the first week be the surprise, not the brochure.
What it cannot do gets said on day one, not on the last day. A short list that holds beats a long one that falls apart the moment it is switched on.
Tell us your problem and we will say whether IRIS understands it, or not yet.
We reply the same working day.