Firefighting

Squad positioning system helps fight fires and save lives

By Michael Mulcahy

23:22 June 10, 2009 PDT

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

Kubota Drop-in Fire Suppression Unit for RTV900

By Mike Hanlon

18:18 February 11, 2009 PST

With Mother Nature currently demonstrating unprecedented wildfire power in the Australian state of Victoria, cost-efficient firefighting solutions will come increasingly into focus over the coming months. One seemingly viable solution emanating from Kubota Tractor is a drop-in high pressure fire suppression system, which is performance-matched and hydraulically-powered by Kubota’s RTV900 Worksite Utility model. The new “Assault Force 70” is designed to provide a low-cost quick-response unit for a diverse range of fire situations. Read More

Evergreen Supertanker: the world's largest firefighting aircraft

By Loz Blain

22:46 June 30, 2008 PDT

As global temperatures slowly increase, a number of nations, including the USA, are finding themselves battling widespread droughts and huge, devastating wildfires that threaten properties, lives, infrastructure and ecosystems alike. Whatever the causes, new tools are clearly required to help subdue the massive bushfires that have destroyed an area the size of Oregon over the last 18 years. Aerial fire suppressant drops are sometimes the only way to effectively fight huge firefronts, and Evergreen's new Boeing 747-based Supertanker promises to be the daddy of them all, carrying seven times more drop capacity than most dedicated firefighting aircraft. Evergreen expect the Supertanker to be a quicker, cheaper, safer and more effective aerial firefighting tool than anything else on the market - and its 747 base platform gives it the ability to operate throughout the USA and around the world wherever it's needed. Read More

ONELink wireless, talking, networked smoke alarm

By Emily Clark

22:19 February 28, 2008 PST

February 29, 2008 When it comes to home safety, you can never be too cautious, and every second counts in the event of an emergency. The ONELink Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Detector with Voice from First Alert not only provides a wireless way to network your smoke detectors, it actually tells you what you’re dealing with. Identifying both the location and type of danger in the home, the voiceover alerts those in the house to give them the best chance of escape without harm. Read More

Calair wildfire protection system

By Emily Clark

22:17 January 16, 2008 PST

January 17, 2007 Wildfire has long been a difficult and dangerous problem to manage and weather extremes around the globe in recent years have seen have seen large-scale fire disasters effect the lives of people from California to Greece. In Australia, the world's driest continent, where bushfire is a familiar threat, a D.I.Y., from-the-ground-up protection system for homes has been developed incorporating dedicated sprinkler heads for different areas of the house linked to strategically placed, automatic heat sensors. Read More

CFX: tiny compressed-air foam firefighting system

By Loz Blain

02:20 November 2, 2007 PDT

November 2, 2007 This simple but revolutionary firefighting system features what its inventor claims is the smallest, lightest and most inexpensive Compressed Air Foam System on the market. Mounted on a small utility vehicle, the CFX system can get firefighting foam into restricted and difficult areas a firetruck can’t reach. Read More

I-Garment fire suit to aid frontline emergency communications

By Emily Clark

20:16 October 28, 2007 PDT

October 29, 2007 Perhaps the most critical tool in the face of disasters such as major fires is the ability to maintain communications – but the very nature of these events means that terrestrial systems are often an early casualty (through either overloading of the system or destruction of infrastructure), in turn exposing emergency personnel to an even greater level of danger. The I-GARMENT project is addressing this issue through the development of a full-bodied “smart suit” that combines protective materials with an array of sensors that monitor position and vital signals and wirelessly transmit the data back to base. Read More

Firefighters: keep your hose in line.

By Loz Blain

May 17, 2007 This simple idea could help overstretched fire departments to make the best use of limited personnel. The Sentinel is a strong, directional fire-hose holding tripod that allows firefighters to set up fixed, unmanned fire suppression points while firefighters get on with the business of saving lives. Read More