How infrasound systems detect fire ignition signatures and deploy targeted acoustic suppression of fires

Amazing stuff! This article is only about indoor and/or home fire protection and suppression. I wonder whether this infrasound system could also be applied against wildfires or industrial fires etc.

"... Fire requires three elements: heat, fuel, and oxygen.

When these combine in the right conditions, combustion begins.

... infrasound technology disrupts this chemical reaction.

The acoustic waves create rapid oscillations in the surrounding air, which interfere with the combustion process by destabilizing the oxygen-fuel interaction.

In simple terms, the sound waves vibrate oxygen at a rate that the chemical reaction of fire can’t take hold, thereby preventing the flame from sustaining itself.

Our early testing has shown when our system is deployed against airborne embers, the soundwaves act as a forcefield which the embers reflect from.

When they land on the ground, they then decay rapidly.

With connective fuels, we also see that combustion process is stopped, such as a wood fence that connects two structures, in the areas that our frequency is being deployed on. ..."

Closing the gap before combustion: Can Sonic Fire Tech replace traditional residential sprinklers?

Credits: The Flyover

Source

America is short on firefighters, leaving volunteers holding the hose

Recommendable! Could be serious! The profession of firefighter does not have to fear AI very soon!

Nearly 1,000 California incarcerated firefighters are currently fighting wildfires

The video does not say how many were arsonists! Pardon my bad joke!

"According to reports, nearly 1,000 California incarcerated firefighters are currently fighting wildfires in the state. Some have criticized the practice due to the low pay for the firefighters, but Royal Ramey, a former inmate and co-founder of the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, says the program helps create career opportunities for inmates upon release."

Massachusetts firefighter dies after suffering cardiac arrest in the line of duty

An emergency within an emergency? R.I.P.

"A Brockton firefighter has died after he went into cardiac arrest on a call, the fire department announced in a release Sunday.

“Firefighter (Jeffrey) Albanese fought very hard but succumb to his injuries just after 11:00 p.m. on Saturday night, December 21, 2024 ..."

Massachusetts firefighter dies after suffering cardiac arrest in the line of duty

Brockton, MA, Firefighter Succumbs to On-Duty Cardiac Arrest "Brockton firefighter Jeffrey Albanese suffered a cardiac arrest while responding to a Dec. 9 emergency call."

Brockton Firefighter Jeffrey Albanese suffered a cardiac arrest on Dec. 9 and passed away Dec. 21.

Cy-Fair Fire Department chief Amy Ramon makes history with Texas Fire Chief Association's Fire Chief of the Year award

Bravo! It is refreshing to know that this fire department chief is a woman and not transgender as it appears!

"Cy-Fair Fire Department Chief Amy Ramon could soon become the first woman to ever win the Texas Fire Chief Association's Fire Chief of the Year award."

Cy-Fair Fire Department chief makes history with award nomination

Way Too Many And Overpaid Firefighters

Posted: 9/8/2015

Trigger

Just read Fewer fires, so why are there far more firefighters?. The author makes a strong case that e.g. municipalities could save billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money reducing the size of their fire departments.

I apologize that I quote so liberally from the article above, but this article is well written.

Salient Quotes

Emphasis added:

1. “Rapid improvements in fire safety have caused a dramatic drop in the number of blazes, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Buildings are constructed with fire-resistant materials; clothing and curtains are made of flame-retardant fabrics; and municipal laws mandate sprinkler systems and smoke detectors. The striking results: On highways, vehicle fires declined 64 percent from 1980 to 2013. Building fires fell 54 percent during that time. When they break out, sprinkler systems almost always extinguish the flames before firefighters can turn on a hose.
   
   But oddly, as the number of fires has dropped, the ranks of firefighters have continued to grow — significantly. There are half as many fires as there were 30 years ago, but about 50 percent more people are paid to fight them.”
2. “It wasn’t until the mid-19th century that cities began establishing fire departments with full-time staffs, as the cost of firefighting grew and more training was needed to operate new steam engines. The size and complexity of structure fires during the era also demanded more professionalism. Almost all of the nation’s deadliest fires occurred between 1850 and 1950.”
3. “Firefighters responded to 487,500 structure fires across the United States in 2013, which means each of the nation’s 30,000 fire departments saw just one every 22 days, on average. And yet, taxpayers are paying more people to staff these departments 24-7. As a result, the amount of money shelled out for local fire services more than doubled from 1987 to 2011, to $44.8 billion, accounting for inflation.”
4. “Firefighters earned a median salary of $45,250 in 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, but overtime can more than double that. In Los Angeles, for example, the average firefighter was paid more than $142,000 in 2013, including overtime and bonuses, the Los Angeles Times reported. Exorbitant overtime costs are fueled by union-negotiated minimum-staffing levels that often mandate four firefighters per engine be on duty at all times, regardless of the cost or workload.”
5. “So “fire” department has become a misnomer. In practice, these agencies have become emergency medical responders. The problem with that? Most communities already have ambulance services, whose staffs are less expensive and more highly trained in medical aid. Many cities mandate that their firefighters be certified EMTs, which requires about 120 to 150 hours of training in basic emergency medical care. That’s far less than the up to 1,800 hours of training for the paramedics who staff emergency medical services. Yet paramedics are cheaper than firefighters, earning a median of $31,020 in 2012.”
6. “Protecting a sizable city with a volunteer force is possible. Since 1930, the city of Pasadena, Tex., has used 200 active and 50 semi-active volunteer firefighters to protect its now more than 150,000 residents. If all towns up to that size moved to all-volunteer forces, the national payroll of career firefighters would be reduced by more than half. Using the median firefighter salary, municipalities would save more than $8.8 billion a year in base pay.”

President Obama And His Nutty Professor

The Private Sector Is Doing Fine, The Public Sector Is Suffering

Recently, President Obama embarrassed himself when he announced that the private sector was doing fine, but the public sector was suffering. How did he come up with this incredible statement?

They have said that the Obama Administration is unique in that there are barely any business people on board, but plenty of brainy so called intellectuals.

Meet One Of Obama’s Nutty Advisors

The Opinion page of the US Edition of the Wall Street Journal on 6/22/2012, published a third of a page article titled “Republicans Are Blocking Obama’s Jobs Plan”  written by Jeffrey Liebman, public policy professor at the Harvard Kennedy School. Professor Liebman is also “a senior economic policy advisor to the Obama campaign. From 2009 to 2010 he was executive associate director and Chief Economist and then acting deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.”. He has a PhD in economics from Harvard.

When it comes to economics, Professor Liebman has it completely backwards just like President Obama. He and the President are missing the point as if living in an ivory tower or in a bubble void of any understanding of basic economics.

Here are some selected quotes from Professor Liebman’s article (emphasis added):

·         “One of the largest drags on our economy has been the layoffs of public employment like teachers, firefighters and police officers”

·         “ … over the past 27 months, state and local government employment has fallen by 450,000 jobs …”

·         Professor Liebman summarizes a study by three economists as “that in a single year of teaching a great teacher raises the lifetime earnings of her students by $250,000 relative to an average teacher”

·         “There is a strong consensus about what the immediate challenges facing our economy are: first and foremost, a continued lack of demand …”

Obama Believes The Economy Depends On Teachers, Firefighters, And Police Offers

Until I read Professor Liebman’s opinion piece, I had no idea how essential unionized teachers in public schools, or firefighters, or police officers were for the well being of a free market economy. Of these three public sector professions listed only police officers are actually a genuine government function that also serves a free market economy. The other two, i.e. public schools and fire fighting, could easily be privatized and it would be cheaper to the public.

Is it not possible that this severe recession has finally opened our eyes as to how bloated the public sector was? Yes, I think so.

Would college tuitions be lower if professors like Mr. Liebman would be working in the private sector? Yes, I think so.

Thank you Wall Street Journal for exposing the peculiar thought processes of the inner circle of the Obama Administration. Thank you for not blocking access to the full article.