Beaver Dam Police Discuss Fire Suppression Tool

(Beaver Dam) The Beaver Dam Police Department says a recent donation will have a positive impact on public safety. Dodge County Chapter of the Masonic Lodge gave the agency a Fire Suppression Tool. Lieutenant Jeremiah Johnsons says the device can be best described as a “fire extinguisher grenade.”
“We take this lunchbox fire suppression tool…there’s two pins on it…you pull it, you throw it into the middle of the fire…into the middle of a room and you step back,” says Johnson.
“In a couple of seconds, it starts to dispersing an aerosol and it’s a non-hazardous, non-oxygen depleting chemical that stops the combustion of the fire. The idea is you throw it in and you shut the door, and the aerosol stays in there and it just kind of coats everything and puts out the fire.”
Johnson says the tool is utilized on fires that a normal extinguisher would not be able to handle such as a blaze that has extended to multiple rooms. He adds that it can be deployed in the early stages of a fire to extinguish or slow its spread and buy valuable time for the fire department to arrive and begin full suppression methods.
During a recent Community Comment, the lieutenant noted that the device can protect property and save lives.
“It’s a pretty cool tool…it’s fantastic for saving people’s houses…keeping people safe in apartments if they’re not evacuated,” says Jonson. “They say fire doubles in size every 60 seconds…that slows down the process of the fire spreading.”
Johnson says equipping officers with a Fire Suppression Tool is important because police can often be the first to arrive at a fire call because they are out on patrol. The police department currently has one Fire Suppression Tool, but they noted that they would like to equip as many squads as possible so at least one is always available.