Yes the heat would be a major issue for any system to withstand. Although that issue could be on the way to being improved. Carbon fiber is being looked at right now. We will see what happens. I did not intend to mean that the system that I designed will even come close to sitting in the middle of one of those wildfires with any chance of survival. The thing that I am trying to do is help the ones I can. Which will be the ones that would not otherwise be effected from the wildfires if it were not for the flying embers of fire. This is another course of defense for those homes. Of course I want to improve the construct all that I can, possibly helping a larger group. I do have a couple of contacts working with me that are out there. One of which is a professor at a college and lives in the danger zone, getting evacuated is something that their family lives with. I will continue to try to find a solution for the water/power issues that will most definitely be a bane to defeat. The slime I’m referring to, is made of water and polyacrylate, a polymer that absorbs 1000 times its weight in water. I found that just over 1000 times its weight works well. It is not toxic, there is a food grade that I have been working with because it was easy for me to get. The only thing that it does is harden the soil after prolonged use. I do not know what kind of things that you guys have tried, but this stuff sticks. Not like glue but it doesn’t immediately run off either. It is something that I have tested a little and it may work great in a large scale. It might be worth y’all looking into. I did not actually know what the red stuff that gets dropped was made of until a couple years ago. I guess that a before measure. This, if you guys approve the trying of it, might help if dropped right on the fire. It may be something that you might want to try. If nothing else, another tool for combating different situations. I have not checked but I am sure that it could be purchased in larger quantities. Seems like I remember a time when someone tried percussion charges to help combat fires. It seems when that wind gets going out there its over in the direction of that wind no matter what. No Sir, I do not take any offense to any criticism, as hard as it is to take. I’m an older dude that has learned that two heads are better than one and four hands… I take it all in and use it to try to improve myself or whatever I am working on. I do not know it all, although I sure thought that I did when I was a young man. The thing about getting sued doesn’t bother me and is something that my attorneys take care of by way of disclaimers. But now that you mention it, I’m remembering that Cali has a reputation for lawsuits. Was not trying to be skippy either. Just thought that it was funny to hear that after I put 50 grand into it from shaving it off of my butt. I will always look for new ways to help in any way that I can. It is my goal to help as much as I can, for as long as I can. I really appreciate you guys educating me on where I landed here and with whom I am corresponding with. I will always praise all of you for your service. And I will always pray for y’all. My name is David Homan by the way, and I am the original poster. Thanks again.
If you use a polymer for a fire retardant additive you may consider using a bit bigger nozzle size for the misters. Yes cali is sue happy at times, got a neighbor still trying to get someone to pay for his retaining wall that got damaged during tree removal… The entire community burned to the ground including his house.
I was thinking that the polyacrylate could be used to help you guys. Since it holds so much water and has the ability to stick to a burning surface, it could very well offer you guys another tool for fighting non chemical types of fire. Time to make the doughnuts. Hope you all have a great day.
Has anyone ever heard of using focused radio waves directed at fires to help combat the flames? I am going to see if I can find something like that and try it. I do believe that if it helps it will probably only help in a wildfire situation because the waves may be damaging to animals and personal property. Everyone have a great weekend and thank you for your service and hard work.
You cannot add energy (radio waves) to an already energy-releasing event (fire) and have it affect anything in a good way.
Again, the way wildland fires stop is by the removal of fuel. Hopefully beforehand by proper land management, otherwise in an emergency by bulldozers and crews, and frequently, burning of the fuel between the fire and the line they have created to stop it.
Once a fire has spread to a significant size there are just too many miles of fire to use extinguishing technology on it. Every burning leaf, twig, blade of grass are another fire just waiting to start up again. Everything you see on the landscape where these fires burn is completely flammable and will start a new fire given any chance.
Hey David, re: your comment about radio waves. Some researchers have demonstrated that acoustic waves can suppress fires (via rapid displacement of oxygen), but to my knowledge these have all been small-scale “laboratory fires”. DoD and FAA have shown interest in further developing technology to quickly suppress incipient stage aircraft/spacecraft fires, but some have proposed using it on vegetation fires
(see here for an article discussing one implementation). I am skeptical for many reasons, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
There are a lot of complexities in wildland fire that do not exist in small scale compartment fires, mainly that the scale of the problem is orders of magnitude greater and oxygen supply is unlimited. As Birken_Vogt mentioned, as the fire grows beyond a very small size, most extinguishment technologies become impractical.
Regarding your specific structure protection idea, I agree with the numerous technical challenges that many have mentioned here. However, I think many appreciate your motivation. If you can figure out how to make simple, affordable, reliable structure protection and convince homeowners to adopt it (along with following Firewise principles), a lot of structure losses could be prevented. This is a hard problem, even when you have a successful product (for example, residential fire sprinkler requirements for new construction homes have saved many lives, but widespread adoption throughout the US is still a distant goal)
Thank you for the feedback, Tbmaynard. So the problem will always be fuel/oxygen because it is in the air? Brush and such as well, but without oxygen nothing burns. I wonder if we could starve a fire by denying it oxygen long enough to cool it down with water(or whatever) enough to extinguish or suppress the fire? Never the less, I will continue to work on solutions until we find something that bites. My respect for all of you that fight the fire fight continues to grow everyday as my resolve is never ending. David-