FIT5 extinguishment grenade, has anyone used them or seen a demo?

I was lucky enough to attend a live burn demo of the FIT-5 several weeks ago. I came away with the impression that it definitely has its place on the fire ground but that it was not everything the sales rep or the pamphlet made it out to be.

I would like to hear the views of others on this extinguisher. For those that have not heard or seen this new tool it can be viewed at www.arasafety.com

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Richmond on April 9, 2010 at 5:58pm

We had lit off a kitchen that was filled with old stacks of cardboard. TIC's were showing 1100 degrees at deployment. The TIC's showed significant heat drop within approx 15 seconds down to the 550 degree range. The unit did put out the main body pretty well but we still had to mop up and chase quite a bit of fire. I personally think (as well as the other FF that was on the nozzle with me) that we would have been just as effective with a hose stream on this particular fire at a lot less cost. They are asking approx $1,100.00 per unit. I would deploy one of these in a basement or other sub ground fire prior to sending crews in. Like I said I think that this is a tool that has it's place but not automatically on all fires.

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Permalink Reply by Ron Ayotte on April 9, 2010 at 8:55pm

Some mutt bean counter will see this and think that it will "save the taxpayers some money".... and try to eleminate firefighters and apparatus.

Well, unitl the Fit 5 can take command, give an intital report, strike additional alarms, perform a primary search, rescue occupants and overhaul, it's just another "expensive gadget".

PS: it hasn't been UL or FM tested....