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| Barricade: Fire Resistant Gel |
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admin writes, "A soggy, stinking baby diaper is helping save everything from homes to utility
poles from fires.
A fire-resistant gel -- developed by a firefighter who noticed a disposable
diaper was the only thing that survived uncharred in a house fire -- is being
touted by experts and businesses as the greatest invention in firefighting since
the hose and pump.
Bartlett says he got the idea when he put out a house fire and noticed that
one "wet, stinky" item did not burn. He was rummaging through charred
trash from a house fire when he happened on something slimy and white. It was
the diaper, the only thing that hadn't burned in a huge pile of garbage. Inside
disposable diapers is a polymer gel that soaks up a baby's business -- and holds
it. With a few modifications, Bartlett developed a backpack full of the
fire-retardant gel, a mixture he calls "Barricade." Barricade gel is
made from the same super-absorbent polymers found in baby diapers.
"
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They act as tiny, mega-absorbent sponges that can hold off flames for up to
30 hours and even put out a fire, says John Bartlett, founder of Barricade
International and a Palm Beach County firefighter. And he's not just blowing
smoke. The gel is being used by the Los Angeles fire department, the U.S.
military and Florida Power & Light Co., one of the nation's largest
utilities.
``It's impressive stuff,'' says Bill Kramer, a professor of fire science at the
University of Cincinnati and fire chief of Deerfield Township, Ohio. ``I've seen
a lot of new products,'' he adds, launching into a litany of foams and other
items. ``This is the only one that gives the fire chief a quantum leap to put
lasting protection on a burning structure.'
Southern California, where a fire season rarely passes without blazes racing
through dry brush land, torching homes as they go, and Colorado had sent for
hundreds of these kits to help fight the fires of this past summer.
The gel, which looks like shaving cream and can be applied with a hose, can be
easily hosed off when the hazard is over. The company has developed a $199 home
protection kit that includes an attachment for garden hoses. There is also a
``Ghostbusters'' style backpack that allows firefighters to carry the gel with
them.
Several years ago, Barricade was credited with saving homes in Port St. Lucie.
FPL publicly praised the invention, saying it saved about 100 utility poles.
Then the phones began to ring. Strangers pulled into the Bartlett’s' driveway
looking for gel. They sold 500 one-gallon jugs at $35 each. FPL says the utility
has bought hundreds of gallons.
You can put it on metal, you can put it on wood, and you can put it on grass
around a transformer. "Barricade" is more expensive than the
established fire-retardant foam. But, its developers say, it's more effective,
safer and it biodegrades. Said one firefighter: "If it's safe enough for a
baby's bottom, it's safe enough for us."
Barricade Fire-Blocking Gel proved itself as an effective fire-stopper during
fires in Alberta and Florida. Canadian firefighters squirted Barricade onto log
decks, which saved not only the decks but a pulp mill. Florida firefighters
found the gel effective as a way to pre-treat homes sitting in the path of an
advancing wildfire. All in all, Barricade has proved itself a worthy addition to
the interface firefighters’ toolkit.
And it all began with a diaper.
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Posted on Nov 21, 2003 13:44pm.
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