Heh... it is the insides of disposable diapers.
"Hi, I volunteer to help with production."
NASA: bringing you loads of innovation since 1958.
Posted on 10/09/2007 12:08:20 PM PDT by vietvet67
HOT SPRINGS, S.D. (AP) - It was the most intense fire ever recorded in the Black Hills National Forest, but nearly all homes coated with a slimy gel were saved while dozens of houses nearby burned to the ground. The gel was a super-absorbent polymer that can hold many times its weight in water and clings well to vertical surfaces and glass. It is mixed with water and then can be sprayed on homes with a truck-mounted hose or a backpack apparatus, or dropped from a plane.
The substance is relatively new to firefighting, having been developed about a decade ago, and is not widely used. But some firefighters who have tried it are impressed, saying it offers longer-lasting protection than the foam retardants that have been around for many years.
"This stuff really works," Ed Waggoner of Reno, Nev., a retired California fire boss who now helps direct attacks on large forest fires in the Black Hills. "We're talking about a water bubble that you put on your house two or three hours before the fire gets there, and it'll save it when the fire gets there."
Kim Zagaris, fire chief in the California Office of Emergency Services, said all 122 of the fire trucks under his command carry gel. And county officials in San Diego recently gave the Palomar Mountain volunteer fire department a grant to buy gel that residents can spray on their homes.
In the last decade, thousands of homes—mostly in Rocky Mountain and Western states—have been destroyed by wildfires. Many were ignited by embers that rained down on them well ahead of the flames.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Heh... it is the insides of disposable diapers. I saw articles about the origin years ago.
I would think metal roofs would also help. They are becoming popular where I live.
It also gives my hair a lustrous sheen.
***And county officials in San Diego recently gave the Palomar Mountain volunteer fire department a grant to buy gel that residents can spray on their homes.***
I bet Hunter had a hand in that.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Heh... it is the insides of disposable diapers.
NASA: bringing you loads of innovation since 1958.
They are really popular here in Florida now........I got mine!........
Save homes, ay?
Probably gives you cancer, too.
Destroys the ozone layer too by miraculously leaping skyward and gobbling ozone like Pac Man on a power pellet.
Melts arctic ice, kills polar bears, and freezes whale feeding grounds as well.
After Katrina we noticed that regular shingle roofs got ripped up pretty good.
Built up shingles just lost patches.
Steel roofs were either there or not. Newer steel roofs fared better than older ones.
We bought our home in 2002 and it already had a metal roof installed over the shingle roof that was there. It has been thru Ivan and Dennis without any damage at all. My neighbor across the street has now a metal roof on his house and I have seen several others in the neighborhood being replaced with metal roofs as the shingles get old. Every new home I see built has metal roofs and more are being put in all across town. Practically all new construction has them, commercial and residential. Even the ones that look like Spanish tiles are actually metal roofs. A company in the north part of the county makes textured metal roofing that looks like tiles or whatever you want. Even a new shingle roof is no protection for a hurricane. They just rip right off and scour the cars and trucks parked nearby. A friend of ours lost a whole bunch of new shingles on their home during Ivan and they went all over their new Caddy. It looked like a vandal had gone all over it with 80 grit sandpaper when it was done.............
They now make a clear adhesive that can be sprayed on shingle roofs that glues the shingles down and prevents them from being blown off.
I had shingles damage my car in the last hurricane to hit Florida.
I had parked it in a field thinking it would be safe, but shingles torn off by the hurricane destroyed the paint job.
I think shingles have come to their end in Florida, for the most part, especially near the coasts. Back in the 50’s and earlier, Florida homes had a flat roof covered in tar and gravel. There was a really good reason for that. People who started moving down here from yankeeland wanted peaked roofs like they had up north, so that is what builder built, what the customer wanted. Nobody told them that a peaked roof is just a big sail to a hurricane..............
Same stuff we put in the water for our fresh cut Christmas Tree.
It is also sold in 30 and 50 lb. sacks as a soil additive that is sold mostly to commercial growers,, holds water like crazy and reduces the amount of irrigation needed and doesn’t cause root rot...
I work in the fire sprinkler business...I wonder if NFPA has developed a standard for this stuff yet...it could change things dramatically.
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