A fire suppression apparatus for fighting fires from a vehicle configured for flight is disclosed, comprising a foam and water held in separate containers aboard the vehicle that when mixed forms a fire retardant, a pump driven by an electric motor to pressurize the fire retardant, the pump including an air induction valve where air is drawn into a suction end of the pump and pressurized together with the fire retardant, and an aimable boom connected to the pump by a conduit, the boom including a nozzle on a distal end of the boom from which the pressurized fire retardant and air is dispensed toward a target.

An exemplary fire suppression system includes a sprinkler nozzle. At least one conduit is connected to the nozzle for delivering a fire suppression fluid to the nozzle. The conduit and the nozzle establish a discharge path. A pneumatically driven pump is connected with the conduit for pumping fluid into the conduit. A gas source provides pressurized gas to the pump for driving the pump. The gas source also provides gas to the discharge path for achieving a desired discharge of the fluid from the nozzle.

An embodiment of a fire suppression apparatus for fighting fires from an aerial vehicle is disclosed having a foam and water held in separate containers that when mixed forms a fire retardant in the separate water container, a pump driven by a first electric motor, the pump including an air induction valve positioned at the pump inlet where air and the fire retardant are drawn into the inlet and pressurized simultaneously by the pump, a primer pump driven by a second electric motor to prime the inlet with the fire retardant before starting the pump, an inverter to control startup of the first electric motor, and an aimable boom connected to the pump by a conduit, the boom including a nozzle on a distal end of the boom from which the pressurized water/foam/air fire retardant is dispensed toward a target. Vertical mount plates can attach the apparatus to opposite sides of the helicopter.

A helipad fire suppression system includes a helipad having an outer boundary that defines an impervious deck area for at least one of landing or storing one or more helicopters, with at least a portion of the impervious deck area being designated a fire suppression target area. The system includes a nozzle assembly having a spray-type nozzle for spraying a fire suppression fluid in a radial pattern. The nozzle assembly can include a nozzle enclosure for enclosing the spray-type nozzle and can be configured for installation in a surface made of an impervious material. The nozzle assembly is disposed in an interior portion of the impervious deck area so as to provide the fire suppression fluid to the fire suppression target area.

A multi-modular aerial firefighting control method and apparatus for use by firefighters to control fire. The multi-modular aerial firefighting control method and apparatus generally includes multi-modular units that are held together to form an aerial firefighting system. The modular units may work together or independently. The multi-modular system comprises more than one modular unit, fluid, fluid conduit, reservoir, air flow generator, multi-modular unit support structure, aerial suspension system and aerial lift system.

A device for generating compressed air foam for use in fire suppression, the device may be attached to standard pressurized sources of water used for fighting fires. The device comprises a water chamber adjacent to an air chamber with a partition there between. A water impeller resides at least partially within the water chamber and an air impeller resides at least partially within the air chamber. The pressurized source of water drives the water impeller, which in turn is connected to drive the air impeller. The air impeller sucks air into the air chamber and compresses the air. The air then passes through a nozzle in the partition to aerate the source of water containing foam solutes to form compressed air foam. The compressed air foam exits the device with a velocity to coat a fire to be extinguished.

The present invention discloses an improved compressed air foam pumping/generation system in which the compressed gas that is used to drive a pumping system is re-utilized and introduced into the outlet manifold to more efficaciously generate a compressed gas foam. A further improvement could include a three-way valve which controls the flow of the compressed gas so that the present invention could be used to generate CAF, aspirated foam (with use of an appropriate nozzle), gels or operate as a simple pump. Additional optional components include a check valve and flexible connection material.

An aerial firefighting system has a foam production unit attached to an aircraft. The foam production unit has a single unit variable block high expansion foam generator; a light weight bladder tank system for collection and storage of water; a light weight bladder tank system for storage of a foaming agent; a telemetry unit for adjusting air flow, foam agent proportioning, and water pressure; and tubing for foam stream straightening. The foam production unit also has a fan capable of delivering at least 75,000 cubic feet per minute of air. The incorporation of a high-CFM fan increases foam production capability more than tenfold over existing aerial firefighting systems. The volume of firefighting foam produced is in excess of 50,000 cubic feet of foam per minute.

The present invention is a mixing device for producing compressed foam for an extinguishing device for firefighting comprising a foam solution inlet that is operatively connected to a foam solution mixture area that is operatively connected to a compressed air inlet that is operatively connected to a compressed air injection manifold that is operatively connected to a mixing chamber. The compressed air injection manifold having a plurality of lateral sides that have a plurality of holes distributed across at least one of the lateral sides. A scrubbing collector pipe that extends into the mixing chamber to form an annular flow area within the mixing chamber. The scrubbing collector pipe having a plurality of holes distributed around an outer periphery of the scrubbing collector pipe. An inner collector pipe within the scrubbing collector pipe. A compressed air foam outlet operatively connected to the scrubbing collector pipe.

The intelligent and efficient fire extinguishing device mainly comprises an intelligent sensing system, a power-driven system, an intelligent control system, a foam system, a fixation system, a support lifting system and a protection system. The intelligent sensing system is used to measure the ambient wind direction and the internal flow field of the tank to determine the fire extinguishing location. The intelligent control system controls the power-driven system to reach the designated location based on the intelligent sensing system. The foam system is used to spray foam. The fixation system is used to fix the device. The support lifting system is used to lift or rotate the cooling nozzle and fire-fighting water cannon. The protection system is used to protect the device. The movement, positioning and extinguishing of the fire extinguishing device are unitedly controlled by the intelligent control system. The invention can achieve intelligent fire extinguishment in storage tanks.