Volume 5, Number 1     January/February 1997

  Technology Transfer

NASA Anti-Fire Device Protects Firefighters

new easy-to-use, affordable fire detection device will help firefighters see invisible flames and navigate through smokey buildings.

SafetyScan of Buffalo, New York, will manufacture and market FIRESCAPE through an exclusive patent licensing agreement with NASA.

	A firefighter uses the fire imager to "see" through dense smoke during a fire imager demonstration.

The fire imaging device shows invisible flames of alcohol and hydrogen fires during the day and sees through smoke. The device also finds origins of visible fires.

SafetyScan specializes in fire safety electronic products. FIRESCAPE is the first affordable commercial product for fire imaging. FIRESCAPE should be available to U.S. fire departments by spring.

SafetyScan has a very compatible product line that is already targeted to the firefighting industry. This allows for easy incorporation of the NASA fire imager technology," said Brenda Smith of the Stennis Space Center Technology Transfer Office.

FIRESCAPE is used like binoculars. It has no moving parts exposed to the environment. Optics are sealed to protect them from smoke and grit. FIRESCAPE also is operational in less than five seconds and may be used for two continuous hours without recharging.

Firefighters who deal with hydrogen or alcohol fires typically rely on the antiquated "broom method" to locate invisible flames. This method involves holding out a corn straw broom and waving it around an area to see if it catches fire. Firefighters who use FIRESCAPE will be able to remain at a safe distance and forgo risky methods.

Two other benefits of FIRESCAPE are its simple operation and $5,000 per unit cost. The fire imager is easy to operate with a push button on/off switch and a button to compensate for sunny and cloudy conditions.

The fire imager originally was developed by two Stennis engineers to fight hydrogen and alcohol fires which have invisible flames in daylight due to their clean-burning chemical makeups.

The engineers drew on their experience in thermal imaging technology to develop the device. Thermal imaging is used at Kennedy Space Center for ice detection on the Space Shuttle and on filtered cameras used for rocket engine plume diagnostics. More expensive thermal imagers are available to firefighters.

"There was a huge gap in technology between the $3 broom and the $30,000 thermal imagers," said Heidi Barnes, one of the Stennis engineers who developed the device. "Firefighters need a reliable but economical device to assist them in their work."

For more information about FIRESCAPE, contact Mark Stroze of SafetyScan. Call 716/828-0392.
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