Currently, insurgent attacks on ground vehicles are the greatest fatality-producing tactic in the terrorists' deadly toolbox. These explosions are sometimes so large that vehicles are lifted and overturned. Some explosions rupture fuel tanks, setting fuel and tires on fire. Petroleum-based materials make very energy-dense fuels, and fires must be extinguished immediately and completely to prevent injury to vehicle occupants. Because of this threat, improved automatic fire-extinguishing systems are needed in ground vehicles.
Fire Suppression History
The first military fire suppression systems (FSSs) were aboard ships and pumped water to douse fires. However, ground military vehicles did not have the capacity to carry water to fight onboard fires, and personnel and vehicles were more often lost than saved. Since hauling FSS water was impractical, other agents were needed.
The first modern FSS was built in 1818. It was a 3-gallon pressurized copper barrel containing potassium carbonate and water. Next, a soda-acid extinguisher was patented in France in 1866; it contained a sodium bicarbonate and water solution mixed with tartaric acid to produce carbon dioxide (C[O.sub.2]). Interestingly, the first foam extinguisher, invented in Russia in about 1905, used water, licorice root, and sodium bicarbonate. Upon mixing, C[O.sub.2] was produced, with the …
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