Fire

It might look like a McDonald’s fries packet, but the Firescuba concept is nothing to be laughed at if it keeps you alive until help arrives. Smoke inhalation is the major cause of most fire-related injuries and deaths so if this device with its carbon filter lets you breathe through smoke, it’s probably worth carrying one around with you or keeping one within reach at home. Read More

Wildfire is one of the few natural disasters that we are at all equipped to combat, but when it takes a ferocious hold we are often able to do little more than limit the spread. Responding to a need for better equipment at the front line, AMATOYA is a concept fire reconnaissance buggy designed to improve vehicle and crew safety while maintaining off road capabilities and delivering better fire suppression technology in the critical initial response phase Read More

Devastating wildfires are burning around the Mediterranean this summer and down south, Australia is still recovering from its worst wildfire season in history in which more than 150 lives and 1800 homes were lost on ‘Black Saturday’. Telecommunications are paramount to helping save lives and direct fire-fighting efforts in wildfires but unfortunately, infrastructure such as mobile and fixed line phones and Internet services are often early casualties in fire ravaged areas. The country’s major telco, Telstra, has launched a portable solution to this issue with the unveiling of a AUD$200,000 Mobile Exchange on Wheels (MEOW) which can be quickly deployed to provide temporary fixed-line communications including broadband. Read More

Even when lives aren’t lost, the property destruction wrought by fires can be heartbreaking. The coatings used in most buildings don’t help, tending to break down at relatively low temperatures and often producing toxic fumes or smoke. To tackle this issue, Australian researchers have come up with a new coating material that can be cheaply produced, applied as easily as paint, and yet withstands temperatures of up to 1830°F (1000°C). Read More

Student designer Roy Hareguina's "Squad" is a compact indoor positioning system that enables fire fighters, even in dense smoke, to know their exact location and that of their colleagues at all times. Using a dual-mapping system, the tough polyetheretherketone (PEEK) units reduce the danger of separation and disorientation in high-rise buildings, and increase a fire fighter’s ability to save lives. Read More