1. An apparatus for detecting smoke in a monitored area, said apparatus comprising: a means for capturing a series of successive video images of said monitored area in the form of a series of two-dimensional bitmaps having a specified number of pixels, a means for examining said series of bitmaps to identify areas in successive bitmaps of adjacent pixels that have the potential for being used as indicators for the existence of smoke in said monitored area, wherein said resulting identified areas from said series of bitmap forming a cluster of identified areas, a means for storing said cluster of identified areas from said bitmaps, and a means for analyzing said cluster of identified areas so as to identify the temporal changes in said areas which are indicative of the presence of smoke in said series of successive video images.