5 firefighting technologies of the future…today

We love new technology at Securika Moscow. At our international fire protection exhibition, participants demonstrate all currently available firefighting latest solutions – but what about the future?

Look closely, and you’ll find the future of firefighting technology is already here! Modern technology currently looks like it was ripped from the pages of a science fiction novel; taking in drones, robots, jet packs and more previously purely fictional devices.

Let’s take a look at five technologies changing the way blazes are tackled worldwide – not 50 years from now, but in the present day. 

5 exciting firefighting & protection technologies

Robots

The word “robot” comes from the Polish/Slovak word “robotnik”, which means “worker”. And work they do – especially when it comes to fire safety. After all, tackling infernos is dangerous work. In the fight to improve safety for firefighters worldwide, many companies are devising robots to do the hard stuff.

EMI Controls, for example, has introduced the TAF35 tracked robot. Essentially, this is a giant turbine on a pair of caterpillar tracks, featuring a nozzle ring that atomises water and foam into a fine mist for extinguishing fires. 

The TAF35 can spray foam up to 90 ft. Firefighters can get even further out of harm’s way though, as the robot can be piloted remotely from up to 1,640 feet away.

Watch the video HERE to see the TAF35 in action

Firefighting drones

From warfare to transport and logistics and internet availability, and everything in-between, drones have changed the modern world. Fire protection is one of the industries receive help from these flying friends.

19% of all US emergency service organisations who bought drones in the US between 2009-2017 were fire departments.

Everything from post-incident assessment, search and rescue, actual fire extinguishing, and site monitoring can be handled with drones. Manufacturers DJI, for instance, has seen its Zenmuse range rise in popularity with fire departments across the United States because of its versatility.

Latvia’s Aerones LTD. is currently developing a model for use in combating high-rise fires. The company’s prototype model is able to lift 114 kg, so capable of carrying a water hose up to a height of close to 400m. If successful, Aerones’ prototype may be the new method of tackling high-rise blazes.

Take a look at the video below to see a firefighting drone in action, putting out a fire in a burning tower block in China.

Soundwave fire extinguisher

Making a big noise about fires might just be the way to take them out. That’s if the sonic extinguisher invented by George Mason University, in Virginia, US, engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran takes off.

The pair invented a fire extinguisher that uses low-frequency soundwaves to douse blazes. By simply pointing their hand-held device, and switching on the bass-heavy sound, fires are snuffed out without foam or water.

As a non-destructive device, Tran and Robertson think their device has enormous scalable potential.

In its current form, the sonic extinguisher is an admittedly chunky hand-held unit, really only suitable for small scale fires. Due its nature, however, this sound-based solution could be scaled and attached to drones or robots for challenges like office block or forest fires.

Seeing is believing, so watch the video HERE to see the inventors demonstrate their device

Water JetPacks

An issue facing urban fire protection authorities is space. Depending on the age and layout of a city, it can be tricky getting a bulky fire engine into place – and that doesn’t include being stuck in traffic. Time is of the essence when it comes to fighting fires, so saving space may also save time and lives. 

But how can this be done? Jetpacks.

Not jetpacks with a small jet turbine, but those that are connected to firehoses to lift them into place and spray water with a smaller profile. Dubai’s Civil Defence Unit has been using these innovative pieces of kit since 2015 to quickly get to and extinguish fires in confined spaces in the sprawling metropolis.

Using Dubai’s waterways, fire teams travel via jet-skis to reach emergencies, then can draw on the sea’s rich resources to fuel their hoses - a method known as the “Dolphin”.

Check it out HERE

Video Image Smoke Detection

It isn’t just facial recognition and crime fighting CCTV can help with. OOR Protection has been pioneering new video imaging software designed to detect smoke. 

Computers analyse the footage to check if the camera is showing evidence of smoke or flames. Once either is detected, a signal is sent from the computer to the building or facilities alarm system. Brightness, contrast, motion and smoke colour are all assessed to understand the nature of the fire in question.

Spot detection is not used in video image smoke detection. That means it can cover very large space. Currently, such systems are being used at large-scale indoor facilities, such as factories and warehouses with high ceilings, as well as outdoors at places like oil rigs, mines, and forests.

The VIDEO shows how VISD works in practice

Find the latest fire safety technology at the Securika Moscow international exhibition

Securika Moscow is the home of fire protection technologies in Russia. As an international trade show – the largest of its type in Russia – it’s the place where the world’s biggest brands come to show their technologies to thousands of key buyers.

Either as an exhibitor or a visitor, you’re guaranteed to find the security solutions to suit your needs – and the manufactures shaping security’s hi-tech future.

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