House Saver

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective of my project is to provide a protective shield, which will quickly cloak a house, when it is threatened by a wildfire. Methods/Materials I made an inflatable wall out of fire-resistant Kevlar cloth, which was put in the form of a folded hose, around a wooden model house. The outer sides of the wall had a reflective aluminium facing. I inflated the hose, using fire fighting foam, to create a rising curtain. When it was high enough,the top was closed to form a tent over the house. An unprotected model house sat beside the shielded house, and both were set aflame, in a simulated wildfire. Results The unprotected house burned completely, while the house protected by the "House Saver" was undamaged. Conclusions/Discussion The "House Saver" could be deployed in approximately a half hour. It can readily surround any size house. The foam raises the wall and helps to keep the house cool. An air conditioning unit could be utilized to reduce the temperature inside the house. Cleanup is done by sucking the foam out of the wall, which would keep costs and environmental impact to a minimum.

Competition history

• CSEF 2003 Applied Mechanics/ Structures & Mechanisms/ Manufacturing · Entry J0218

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

• All Engineering projects
• CSEF Engineering projects
• Every CSEF 2003 project