Flame Away

What it does

In case of a fire, you need to react quickly. That is why we have produced the Flame Away. The Flame Away is a decorative throwable fire extinguishing tool. It is a piece of decoration, which in case of a fire is thrown into the fire and extinguishes it.

Your inspiration

The "fire grenade" is an ancient concept which was hung in the room and thrown into the fire. Last century the idea went out of fashion, due to the toxic chemical used, but the concept of a product that is within arms reach, easy to use, and requiring no maintenance can save the lives of those without fire training. That is why we modernised the concept and made it safe: the Flame away is decorative so people don't stash it away and can throw it in case of a fire. This ensures that anyone can take action in case of a fire and no more lives will be lost because of fires.

How it works

Flame Away is an innovative and creative product to increase fire safety, easy to use for everyone. The product is comparable to a throwable fire extinguisher. It is a breakable container filled with a fire-extinguishing solution. This will allow the container to shatter when thrown, dispersing the extinguishing liquid around the point of impact. The liquid is a solution of water and certain fire-extinguishing chemicals, which are proven to be effective and safe on touch. The product is easily recognised as a fire-extinguishing tool; because of the pretty design, this will make sure that people will not stock it away and the product will be within arm’s reach. The Flame Away is developed and produced in the Netherlands, with as many components as possible from the EU. This allows us to minimise our carbon footprint and support our European industry.

Design process

The Flame Away has been in development for 3 years at the Demonstrator Lab at the VU Amsterdam. The process started with the development of the extinguishing chemical; this needs to be effective and safe. It started as a powder/grain base, but this resulted in much side damage, little spread and too little effectivity. Consequently, we produced and optimised a water-based mixture. Meanwhile, the shape of the product was designed. The original concepts were tested with a test group of at least 120 people over multiple iterations. Step by step we developed the correct colour, shape, and size. We also tested with elderly of all ranges of vitality so the product can be used by anyone. Lastly, the material of the product was developed; many materials were tested such as PMMA and ceramics. The product needed to be easily and consistently shatterable, sustainable, non-flammable, safe in use, and consistent in production. PMMA was rejected quickly and ceramics were used for a year as proof of concept but proved to have an inconsistent thickness on large-scale production. This is why we chose glass as a material.

How it is different

The product is easily recognised as a fire-extinguishing tool; however, it is not unappealing like the certified fire extinguisher, which would result in the owner putting the product somewhere out of sight and quite likely out of reach. In other words, because of the pretty design, this will make sure that people will not stock it away and the product will be within arm’s reach. These factors result in a much faster response time than certified fire extinguishers. This in turn results in less damage occurring during the fire, resulting in a lower cost associated with the fire. Furthermore, the side damages of this product are non-existent. Finally, another advantage in comparison to the standard fire extinguisher is that people will be able to place our product in every house and even in every room, whereas the standard fire extinguisher often is only found on every floor or even only in the hall of the building. This increases fire safety at all levels.

Future plans

Flame Away is working on improving its current design based on customer feedback. Furthermore, Flame Away is working on developing option to customise the product. We want to offer the option for companies to print their logo on the Flame Away. Also, we are working on a holder for the Flame Away. One could be used to attach the Flame Away to the wall and another design is being made to be able to hold the Flame Away and smash it on softer surfaces. Lastly we are researching if the Flame Away would be effective on different types of fires.

Awards

Flame Away won the innovation price at the Challenge Brandveiligheids of Woonzorg, Habion and Wooncompagnie in 2020, won the first prize at the Philips Innovation Award's Idea phase & was selected for the semi-finals of the Innovator class in 2023, selected for the Make it circular and got published in the FD