Throughout history, fire has been a formidable tool for advances in industry, science and improving the quality of life, but out of control it can be lethal and destructive. In less than a week, the Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed 373 acres of the City, burning over 13,000 houses, 84 churches (including the old St Paul’s Cathedral) and 44 company halls.
The first heroes in the battle against fire were both English: the chemist Ambrose Godfrey, who established the first recorded fire extinguisher patent in England in 1723, and George Manby, who brought out the first portable fire extinguisher in 1813. Known as the “Extincteur”, Manby’s invention was a copper canister containing three gallons of potassium carbonate solution and compressed air. This operated on the principle still used by fire extinguishers today; where a fire suppressant is propelled from a container by pressurised gas.
Manby’s “Extincteur"The predecessor of the “Extincteur” by nearly 100 years, Ambrose Godfrey’s method was a static system and an ambitious early attempt at the sprinkler technique. The device was left in place in a room to protect the area against fire. It had a series of fuses that could be ignited when the fire started. These would detonate an explosive charge inside a container full of liquid, which would scatter around the room, aiming to extinguish the flames (and hopefully not blow up any bystanders).
Fire Protection has become a lot more sophisticated and effective since those early days. For instance, water mist is an incredibly impressive fire suppression agent and reduces temperature at an extraordinary rate. This was shown in recent tests when a fire was activated in an 8m x 4m room set at the BRE testing facility, with three Ultra Sidewall Residential nozzles installed at locations along the length of one wall. After only 30 seconds from activating the water mist system, the temperature at head height (1.6m) had dropped by 400oC to below 50oC and in less than two minutes was down to under 20oC.
Nevertheless, it is worth remembering and celebrating the work of these early pioneers of fire protection. Without their inventive determination, we might still be putting out fires by passing buckets of water along a human chain!
