Halon based fire extinguishants were previously regarded as the most effective universal fire extinguishing agents, working on 3 fire classes, and leaving no toxic residue… However, halon extinguishants have one major caveat, they’re now illegal in many countries (including the UK) due to the devastating impacts they have on the environment.
When released into the atmosphere halons trigger a chain reaction that destroys molecules of ozone in the stratosphere, a single molecule of halon can destroy billions of molecules ozone. Stratospheric ozone is absolutely critical for absorbing UV radiation emitted by the sun, which prevents the cancer-causing UV rays from reaching earth and damaging living organisms.
| Technical talk: how do halons cause ozone depletion? Halons are organohalogen compounds that consist bromine and/or fluorine atoms and either 1 or 2 carbon atoms. When released into the atmosphere, UV radiation provides enough energy to break the covalent bond between the halogen and the carbon atom to create halogen free radicals. Halogen free radicals react with ozone molecules by a mechanism called free-radical substitution. This initiates a chain reaction that breaks ozone down into oxygen, oxygen doesn’t have the same protective effect on the environment that ozone does. |
However, there is now a patent protected extinguishant that is not only more effective than halon extinguishers, working on all fire classes, but one that also doesn’t have the same devastating effect on the environment. This extinguishant is made by Firexo.
With Firexo, there is one answer to all fires. It is a firefighting game changer. It eliminates the confusion which reduces the time required to extinguish fires resulting in a reduction in property damage, less injury, and more importantly, more lives saved.
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