FIT-5 Review

FIT-5 is a flame retardant grenade designed to help firefighters extinguish fires. Designed by ARA Safety, FIT-5 or Fire Interruption Technology is a powder aerosol product that can be thrown into a fire room, and once it deploys its cloud of fire suppressing powder will interrupt the fire at its fuel source.

The FIT-5 device is 11 lbs, and it contains approximately 7.5 lbs of potassium nitrate in its solid form. Explaining how FIT-5 works, Brien Green, ARA Safety's Director of Sales, says, "There is a little igniter unit on it. You pull the cord on it, and it will start the ignition process to change the potassium nitrate solid puck into a powder…It will change from that potassium nitrate to a potassium bicarbonate, essentially baking soda, and it will attack the free radicals of the fire, not oxygen." Firefighters have approximately 9 seconds to throw it before the FIT-5 deploys.

According to Green, FIT-5 works best when it is in a contained environment such as a room. He says that the amount of time it takes for suppression to occur depends on how contained the environment is. Green claims that it is an excellent tool for a fire chief or first on-scene personnel to deploy because it suppresses the fire long enough until additional help can arrive.

There are several benefits to the FIT-5 tool. It lowers the temperature of a fire room, making it safer for firefighters to enter. Brien Green says that it is capable of bringing a 1000 degree temperature down to the 250 to 300 degree range. It is also very beneficial in that it reduces the amount of water firefighters need to extinguish the fire, which in turn makes for less of a mess and lowers the chance of the room and its contents developing a mold problem later. Also because less water is used, the fire scene is better-preserved, making it easier for fire investigators to conduct their investigations. Because the chemicals in FIT-5 dissipate completely, it is environmentally safe.

One FIT-5 unit costs $1295.00 and can be purchased through their dealer network. Brien Green says that in many cases insurance companies will reimburse fire departments for the use of FIT-5 under the fire victims' homeowner's policies. For more information on how to purchase FIT-5 visit, www.arasafety.com.