THOUSANDS of homes in Minhang District have been fitted with a high-tech fire alarm system in a bid to improve people's safety, the local fire bureau said yesterday.

Over the past three months, wireless networks have been installed free of charge in 87 apartment buildings at 12 complexes across Minhang, Zhou Meilan, a spokesman for the local fire department told Shanghai Daily.

"As well as being directly connected to a central control panel in the security guards' office, all the alarms (one per apartment) are linked to one another," Zhou said.