VATIS UPDATE Article

GelTech Solutions, Inc., the United States, an innovator in the use of polymers for fire suppression and prevention, announced that testing of its FireIce Fire Extinguisher by the Fire & Risk Alliance (FRA) has shown conclusively that FireIce was able to successfully suppress a lithium-ion battery fire in runaway as well as prevent re-ignition. In a controlled laboratory test conducted at the University of Maryland’s Fire Testing and Evaluation Center (FireTEC), While both extinguishers were able to suppress the initial fire caused by an overheated lithium-ion battery pack, only the FireIce Fire Extinguisher prevented re-ignition and runaway.

Michael Reger, president of GelTech, stated “FireIce, which is already capable of extinguishing fires too hot for water or traditional extinguishers, has the ability not only to extinguish lithium battery fires, but can also stop batteries from going into runaway. Having successfully completed our side-by-side test at UMD, we are now actively exploring our options to bring a FireIce solution to the market.”