This house sized dome would be dropped from a helicopter to rapidly smother house fires. Quick-release inert gas cartridges included-- Voice, Jan 02 2012 the Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane can lift 20,000 pounds. http://en.wikipedia.../wiki/S-64_Skycrane [Voice, Jan 02 2012] Self Contained House Breathing Apparatus Self_20Contained_20...eathing_20Apparatus [theircompetitor, Jan 04 2012] Nitrogen-filled home Fill_20your_20home_20with_20nitrogenSimilar but not identical. [nineteenthly, Jan 05 2012] I'm just wondering how long it be before it gets "delivered" to the wrong house?-- not_morrison_rm, Jan 02 2012 I foresee a problem. If the dome is light enough to be lofted by helicopter, it's going to be lifted by the updraught from a decent fire.
(Quick calculation: assume dome is 80ft in diameter to cope with a modest detached house. If hemispherical, volume will be about 2 x 40^3 =128,000 cubic feet. If the trapped air is at 80°C, that gives a lift of about 1,280lb. So, the dome would have to weight more than 1,300lb when "cool".)-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 02 2012 So make the "dome" from segments like flower petals. To avoid the updraft, deploy from beneath (I'm sure that the petals could be stacked inside a tunneling device that races mole-like through the earth to the fire site)-- pocmloc, Jan 02 2012 This idea assumes that the dome would form a perfect seal with the ground. If there are any gaps around the edges, all this will do is create jets of flame shooting back into the burning structure, or worse, a backdraft bomb.-- Alterother, Jan 02 2012 Isn't this how diesel engines work?-- rcarty, Jan 02 2012 More or less, but more with the turning of shafts and less with the burning of houses. Well-spotted, though.-- Alterother, Jan 02 2012 Anything likely to smother flames and be fireproof is also likely to be a good insulator. So, the flammable bits of your house will remain at a high temperature but starved of oxygen while the device is on. Then, they'll explode into flames as soon as it's lifted.-- hippo, Jan 04 2012 //and less with the burning of houses. Well-spotted, though.//
You get my sarcasm bun, if one can be awarded for it...-- not_morrison_rm, Jan 04 2012 Could you add pockets around the edges, that firefighters on the ground could fill, using water jets, to help prevent updrafts/jets of flame/etc?
Or indeed, sandbags. Driving a fire engine onto the edge. Heat-activaed spring-loaded tent pegs. Something.-- gisho, Jan 04 2012 [UB] once posted a rocket propelled fire blanket idea similar to this.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 04 2012 not_morrison_rm why would that comment be sarcasm? Can you prove that a concave mass heavy enough to fall evenly over a burning house fire will not compress a column of air that is also being drawn inwards by the fire, and that the compression of the air will also not generate significant heat, and also not contain significant oxygen, and that it subsequently will not detonate?-- rcarty, Jan 04 2012 "D'ohmmmmmme!"-- phundug, Jan 04 2012 Since the dome is (presumably) not flammable, why not just live inside that?-- Alterother, Jan 04 2012 ^ :D-- FlyingToaster, Jan 04 2012 //the dome would have to weight more than 1,300lb when "cool".// Then it's a good thing helicopters can lift 10x that.-- DIYMatt, Jan 04 2012 [Alterother], the plumbing might be a little bothersome. Or rather, lack therof.-- gisho, Jan 04 2012 The dome would have to come equipped with a chainsaw to remove all shrubbery, fences and carports etc adjacent to the shed as well as insulated wirecutters to remove telephone wires and powerlines attached to the house.
Have a wander around where you're living now and see if there is a perfectly clear perimeter around the entire dwelling which would allow a dome or even acube shape to sit down around it. Unless you live in the Little House on the Prairie I doubt one house in 1000 would be suitable without massive, time- consuming remedial work on the ground.-- AusCan531, Jan 04 2012 It could be useful for oil well fires.-- DIYMatt, Jan 05 2012 It's been tried, and apparently sometimes works, but the major problem with that idea is that oil wells have oil coming out of them under great pressure, making it difficult to get the dome on there in the first place.-- Alterother, Jan 05 2012 This is like my nitrogen-filled house idea.-- nineteenthly, Jan 05 2012 Is that the one that asphyxiates all the occupants so they won't suffer the agony of burning to death?-- Alterother, Jan 05 2012 Only if they want. Fires are unlikely in a house filled with nitrogen, food would spoil more slowly and pests would suffocate. It's just that everyone has to use breathing equipment to survive.-- nineteenthly, Jan 05 2012 random, halfbakery