A Way To Extinguish House Fires?

[BFritz21]

I have thought about this for a while and it might be a stupid idea, but, when a house catches fire, couldn't they have a helicopter put a giant class case over the house to put it out?

It would stop the oxygen from getting to the fire and fire needs oxygen to burn.

It's late so let me know if that's a stupid idea but tell me why it wouldn't work if you think it's stupid.

[*rfaulk34*]

(02-25-2022, 03:27 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: I have thought about this for a while and it might be a stupid idea, but, when a house catches fire, couldn't they have a helicopter put a giant class case over the house to put it out?

It would stop the oxygen from getting to the fire and fire needs oxygen to burn.

It's late so let me know if that's a stupid idea but tell me why it wouldn't work if you think it's stupid.

1. Where are they going to store these cases?
2. Houses are all different shapes and sizes and they don't all sit on flat ground.
3. Not every house has room on the sides. Lots of houses have other houses only a couple/few feet away.
4. How would you construct one of these cases and how much would it weigh? (a lot)
5. Landscaping, fences, decks get in the way.
6. Power, cable, phone lines and trees get in the way.
7. Who would pay for the materials to build it, make it portable and then fit a helicopter to carry it?
8. Fire fighters are on duty and usually minutes away from any average fire. The time it would take to get a pilot to a helicopter from where it is, to the glass case and hook it up, then travel to a fire, would be way too long to do any good. Then you have to fit it over the house and hope for perfect conditions. By that time, the house is a pile of burnt wood on the ground.
9. Firefighters often have to go into a structure to save people.
10. Inclement weather?

A 1" thick X 7500 square foot glass case would weigh around 7500 to 8000 lbs in glass alone. And that's for a small house.

[reuben.ahmed]

rfaulk always breaking people's dreams out here

[HarleyDog]

(02-25-2022, 03:27 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: I have thought about this for a while and it might be a stupid idea, but, when a house catches fire, couldn't they have a helicopter put a giant class case over the house to put it out?

It would stop the oxygen from getting to the fire and fire needs oxygen to burn.

It's late so let me know if that's a stupid idea but tell me why it wouldn't work if you think it's stupid.

It’s not a stupid idea. Just not practical the way you describe. Yet, cutting oxygen to a fire would be effective. Fighting fires with foam has been used to seal off oxygen when fighting fires with fuels and other combustible liquids and chemicals with the same idea in mind. I think your solution is a little further outside the box, but nice try.

[TecmoBengals]

It's all about the Benjamins baby. Innovative ideas often cost money and a public service couldn't keep up with the costs of flying around helicopters and everything else you proposed.

[BFritz21]

(02-25-2022, 04:01 AM)rfaulk34 Wrote: 1. Where are they going to store these cases?
2. Houses are all different shapes and sizes and they don't all sit on flat ground.
3. Not every house has room on the sides. Lots of houses have other houses only a couple/few feet away.
4. How would you construct one of these cases and how much would it weigh? (a lot)
5. Landscaping, fences, decks get in the way.
6. Power, cable, phone lines and trees get in the way.
7. Who would pay for the materials to build it, make it portable and then fit a helicopter to carry it?
8. Fire fighters are on duty and usually minutes away from any average fire. The time it would take to get a pilot to a helicopter from where it is, to the glass case and hook it up, then travel to a fire, would be way too long to do any good. Then you have to fit it over the house and hope for perfect conditions. By that time, the house is a pile of burnt wood on the ground.
9. Firefighters often have to go into a structure to save people.
10. Inclement weather?

A 1" thick X 7500 square foot glass case would weigh around 7500 to 8000 lbs in glass alone. And that's for a small house.

1. Outside of the fire house or wherever a helicopter is kept.

2. The shape of the houses don't matter as long as you have case big enough.

3. It wouldn't work on every house, so does that mean you shouldn't use it on the houses it does work on?

4. Construction companies? Not sure on cost but the money it could save would make it worth it.

5. See 3.

6. See 3 and 5.

7. The government. A normal helicopter would hopefully be able to carry it.

8. The glass case could be kept near the helicopter and even hooked up at all times. Even if it's not connected at all times, a few clamps and it's ready to go. Also, helicopters can fly at 120+ miles per hour. If it's a small house fire, obviously it wouldn't be needed, but it sometimes takes firefighters hours to put out house fires, so this would cut down on time by a great deal.

9. They'd obviously have to get people out first.

10. Like what? Unless there's a tornado or hurricane, why would weather matter.

(02-25-2022, 10:43 AM)TecmoBengals Wrote: It's all about the Benjamins baby. Innovative ideas often cost money and a public service couldn't keep up with the costs of flying around helicopters and everything else you proposed.

You wouldn't need to fly around helicopters all the time because how often is there a house fire that would require it?

[*rfaulk34*]

(02-25-2022, 03:23 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: You wouldn't need to fly around helicopters all the time because how often is there a house fire that would require it?

During a recent 5 year period, the NFPA reported an average of 346,800 structure fires per year in the US.

[BFritz21]

(02-25-2022, 05:22 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: During a recent 5 year period, the NFPA reported an average of 346,800 structure fires per year in the US.

How many were house fires?

Even so, with that many fires, it seems like this would be a great idea if it works.

[*rfaulk34*]

(02-25-2022, 05:26 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: How many were house fires?

Even so, with that many fires, it seems like this would be a great idea if it works.

You just glossed over all the reasons it wouldn't work in my previous post. 

[BFritz21]

(02-25-2022, 05:34 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: You just glossed over all the reasons it wouldn't work in my previous post. 

I addressed them all in post 6.

[TecmoBengals]

(02-25-2022, 05:45 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: I addressed them all in post 6.

Well then, time for you to change the world with your idea. 

[XenoMorph]

This is not the simpsons

Also most towns dont have a helicopter

[*rfaulk34*]

(02-25-2022, 05:45 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: I addressed them all in post 6.

Only answers 4 and 9 were practicle. 

[BFritz21]

(02-25-2022, 05:57 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Only answers 4 and 9 were practicle. 

If that were true, you'd address them all individually.

[KillerGoose]

(02-25-2022, 03:23 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: 1. Outside of the fire house or wherever a helicopter is kept.

2. The shape of the houses don't matter as long as you have case big enough.

3. It wouldn't work on every house, so does that mean you shouldn't use it on the houses it does work on?

4. Construction companies? Not sure on cost but the money it could save would make it worth it.

5. See 3.

6. See 3 and 5.

7. The government. A normal helicopter would hopefully be able to carry it.

8. The glass case could be kept near the helicopter and even hooked up at all times. Even if it's not connected at all times, a few clamps and it's ready to go. Also, helicopters can fly at 120+ miles per hour. If it's a small house fire, obviously it wouldn't be needed, but it sometimes takes firefighters hours to put out house fires, so this would cut down on time by a great deal.

9. They'd obviously have to get people out first.

10. Like what? Unless there's a tornado or hurricane, why would weather matter.

You wouldn't need to fly around helicopters all the time because how often is there a house fire that would require it?

Another major downside to this is that it is rather rare for a fire department to have access to a helicopter. My father-in-law works for the fire department, he's a fire investigator now. He was on firehouse duty for 15-20 years and we live in a city of 1+ million people. None of his firehouses had access to a helicopter, and our city may only have access to one in total. I've personally never seen a fire department helicopter, so I'm not sure here. I know our PD has one. 

I think the idea is creative, but impractical. 

[*rfaulk34*]

(02-25-2022, 06:10 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: If that were true, you'd address them all individually.

No, because then you would want to debate me on those answers. I just dismissed them out of hand because they're not feasible.

Here's an idea. Instead of spending time money and resources to try and construct boxes that wouldn't work very often or on a larger scale, why not just build structures with materials that are flame retardant?

[*Synric*]

(02-25-2022, 04:01 AM)rfaulk34 Wrote: 5. Landscaping, fences, decks get in the way.
6. Power, cable, phone lines and trees get in the way.

This.

For the glass case idea to work everything for every house would have to be perfect. Sealing it so its air tight quickly enough to save the house would be nearly impossible.

Creating an air tight seal would be alot harder than the OP believes even on perfectly flat land and where I'm from there is no such thing as flat.

[*rfaulk34*]

(02-25-2022, 10:32 PM)Synric Wrote: This.

For the glass case idea to work everything for every house would have to be perfect. Sealing it so its air tight quickly enough to save the house would be nearly impossible.

Creating an air tight seal would be alot harder than the OP believes even on perfectly flat land and where I'm from there is no such thing as flat.

Yep. I just picked up my food from Barleycorn's in Lakeside Park and on the way home i thought, "hmm. if it could be built, how many places could it be used", so i spent the whole drive home looking at houses and apartments and i did not see one single  structure that could have been completely sealed by any kind of enclosure. 

And don't forget. Electric power lines run from the street to every building as well as satellite/cable wires and in some places, phone lines. 

Even if something could be built, which would be very hard and cost mounds of money on the part alone, it could not be used anywhere.

[*rfaulk34*]

(02-25-2022, 10:32 PM)Synric Wrote: This.

For the glass case idea to work everything for every house would have to be perfect. Sealing it so its air tight quickly enough to save the house would be nearly impossible.

Creating an air tight seal would be alot harder than the OP believes even on perfectly flat land and where I'm from there is no such thing as flat.

I brought up fire-retardant materials, and another way to help fight fires on a micro level would be making sprinkler systems mandatory for all new construction. The only problem is, with either of those, the cost would be so outlandish on implimentation and upkeep, there's no way it would ever be done.

[Benton]

It's not a bad idea, but it would cost an astronomical amount. Helicopters like the M26 capable of carrying a giant glass dome start out around $20 million. There are nearly 30,000 fire departments registered with the federal government (normally I'd round down, but since there's probably 30 percent that aren't registered, I'll round up).

That's $600 billion, not including pilot cost, cost of the domes, property destruction, etc.

Just going by a quick google search, there's roughly 2,500 companies that provide home owners insurance in the US. They made about $94 billion in profit last year.

No google search, but there's exactly 0 companies that would spread out a -$506 billion loss just because it's the right thing to do.