Anthony D. Parfitt, Chairman and Founder of Ci Global, explains how early-stage electrical fault detection, integrated infrastructure and regulatory reform are redefining fire prevention.
Please introduce yourself and tell us about your background in fire safety.
I’m Anthony D. Parfitt Founder of Ci Global. For decades, I have designed safety-critical fire and security systems. I was involved in the development and installation of early intelligent fire alarm systems, working across large commercial and public buildings in the UK for major PLCs. I went on to form a company delivering technology for the UK Government, Network Rail, the DVLA and police forces in the UK and overseas, including developing the first Home Office-approved ANPR system.
The turning point came later, after a near-miss electrical fire at home. A water leak caused an electrical fault that blew the appliance. That is what led me to build the first Ci Safe prototype on my kitchen table, but I didn’t take it any further.
Then the Grenfell tragedy happened. Learning that it had been caused by an electrical fault changed everything. I realised I already knew how to stop a fire like that from starting. Doing nothing wasn’t an option. From that point on, it became my mission.
From your experience, what’s the single most important mindset change the fire safety industry must embrace to prioritise prevention over traditional response-focused approaches?
We must stop treating electrical fires as inevitable. For decades, the industry has assumed fires can’t be fully prevented, so the focus has been on detection, evacuation and response. That mindset runs through regulation, procurement and training.
But electrical fires don’t start with flames. They start with faults: overheating, abnormal load behaviour, electrical arcing and connections degrading over time. If we can see those warning signs early and act on them, prevention stops being an aspiration and becomes a responsibility. The real question isn’t how fast we respond once something has gone wrong, it’s why we are allowing risk to build up in the first place.
In your view, why has the industry historically overlooked early-stage risk detection, and what needs to happen for that to become mainstream practice globally?
Because early-stage electrical risk hasn’t been visible. Traditional fire safety systems are designed to detect outcomes – smoke, heat and flame – not causes. Electrical fires start much earlier, with faults developing inside plugs, sockets and appliances.
For electrical fire prevention to become mainstream, it must be built into the infrastructure itself – automatic, certifiable and always on – and designed to work alongside existing safety systems.
Ultimately, that means it must be written into standards and building regulations. Electrical fire prevention technology needs to be treated in the same way as earthing or RCDs, something that’s simply expected to be there. When it is part of the standard, not a choice, that’s when it scales.
How do you think building safety cultures – from architects to facilities managers to policymakers – need to evolve to support prevention-first systems at scale?
Safety systems need to be built in from the start, at the design stage. Architects and developers make decisions early that shape risk for decades. Facilities managers and emergency crews are left managing the consequences, often with limited visibility. Government and regulators typically step in once outcomes are visible, not while conditions are forming.
A prevention-first culture closes that loop. It asks what intelligence a building should have from day one, what risks it should be able to detect and isolate autonomously, and where accountability should sit when something starts to go wrong. That requires collaboration across disciplines and much clearer responsibility for prevention.
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