Halfway Partners With Atlantic Emergency Solutions For Demonstration

On Sunday November 5th, Halfway joined up with Atlantic Emergency Solutions and hosted a special demonstration at the Hagerstown Training Center. This demonstration was the use of the new Bridgehill Fire Blanket for use on Electric Vehicle Fires and the PVSTOP-Fire Retardant Solution for Solar Panels.

Halfway hosted Sunday’s demo to give our personnel a chance to see how these items worked firsthand. Between the number of homes with roof-top solar panels to the electric car driving up and down the highway, the enhanced technology is causing unique fire challenges. Multiple departments were invited out to observe and learn what new tools are available.

The PVSTOP is a fast and effective way for our firefighters to safely shut down a solar panel in the event of an emergency. The PVSTOP works like a Water Fire Extinguisher. Instead of water it sprays a fire-retardant liquid blanket that is non-conductive with the electricity from the solar panels which covers the panels shutting them down decreasing the risk to the firefighters and protecting the solar panels. One of many tools we are currently looking to acquire to add to our arsenal.

The Bridgehill Fire Blanket is another great tool we had on hand for Saturday’s demo. The blanket isolates fires in an electric vehicle and controls toxic fumes and smoke coming from the burning electric vehicle. In the case of a regular vehicle fire, it would normally take around 500 gallons or less of water to extinguish the fire. Electric vehicle fires take nearly 20,000 gallons or more to extinguish them, not to mention how long it would take to be extinguished. For the demonstration, Halfway has purchased one of the Bridgehill Fire Blankets and is currently in service on our First Due Engine ready for use.

New tools are constantly being developed and tested as technology evolves. With these new tools we are constantly seeing a rise in cost! These tools are the reasons we send out our membership drives as well as holding all our different fundraisers from raffles to barbecues! So if you participate in any of our events or activities we truly thank you for your support! If interested in any of these new tools, reach out to William Sellers of AES at wsellers@atlanticemergency.com for details!