Jan 1, 2008 9:46 pm US/Central
Fireproof Paint Could Help Save Your House
(WCCO)
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Firefree88 costs about $20 more per gallon than a regular can of paint. (File)
CBS
When it comes to a fire, your home is the least safe place
to be, the state fire marshal's office said.
One house catches fire every 31 minutes in Minnesota.
Many of us want to protect our homes, and more importantly our children,
so what if it was as simple as painting your house with a special paint?
Sometimes to measure the success of a product you have to
start from scratch.
WCCO-TV carpenter
Pete Anderson built two small homes, identical in every way, except one.
One house was covered with regular house paint.
The other was painted with
Firefree 88.
The paint promises
protection: three coats and the makers say it will stop flames.
The challenge sparked the interest of the St.
Paul Fire Department.
"It'll be interesting to see what effect it does have
on the structures that you have here," said fire chief Clarence Hawkins.
Hawkins has been fighting fires 20 years.
WCCO-TV asked him to set fire to the homes we
constructed.
Inside we hung a curtain,
placed a bag of shredded paper and the chief set things off with a simple
candle.
Within a minute, the fire is clearly visible in both
homes.
After four minutes, flames fully
engulfed the house with regular paint.
The Firefree 88 house was mostly filled with smoke.
Four and a half minutes into our test, the house with
regular paint collapsed.
The Firefree 88
house was still simply smoking.
"It seems to be holding the fire in check and not
spreading to the structure," said Hawkins.
In fact, 16 minutes later, the fire chief calls the all
clear.
There was very little smoke and
the house has very little damage.
The
house is still standing, while the untreated one is reduced to ashes.
"That would give firefighters a little more time to
respond and possibly save someone's life," Hawkins said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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