Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Two decades ago, the fire marshal in Glendale, Arizona, was concerned that the elevators in a new stadium wouldn't be large enough to accommodate a 7-foot stretcher held flat. Tilting a stretcher to make it fit in the cab, the marshal worried, might jeopardize the treatment of a patient with a back injury. Maybe our elevators should be bigger, he thought. The marshal put this idea to the International Code Council, the organization that governs the construction of American buildings. After minor feedback and minimal research (the marshal measured three stretchers in the Phoenix area), the suggestion was incorporated into the ICC's model code.

The most prominent applications of the Internet of Things (IoT) are driverless cars and home appliances. In the world of fire safety, however, its most exciting application may be sensors in buildings. The collection and application of atmospheric data could dramatically alter our approach to fire prevention and firefighting and ultimately help to save lives. IoT sensors form a major part of what are known as'smart buildings'. Smart buildings are properties controlled in part by autonomous computer software, known as Building Management Systems (BMS).