Fire-Resistant Paint Can Saves Lives, Cut Property Damage

On exhibit for the first time at the Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. (RIMS) Exhibition in San Francisco was a first-resistant paint that can save lives and prevent property damage by containing a fire to the room of origin. Firefree 88 is a product of International Fire Resistant Systems Inc. (IFRS) of San Rafael, CA.

During a fire, a coating of Firefree 88 rises like a cake in an oven with a protective layer that reflects heat away from the surface on which it is painted. This process limits flame spread, the company says, and prevents the penetration of a fire to the underlying materials. The result is that a fire can burn itself out in the room of origin, providing time for building occupants to escape and emergency equipment to arrive.

Test burns of Firefree 88 have been conducted for fire officials in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as in states throughout the country, IFRS says. The firm is now marketing the fire-retardant paint, nationally and internationally.

Recent contracts for Firefree 88 include a $1 million project for coating firewalls of a condominium complex at Redwood Shores, south of San Francisco. There, the paint is expected to increase the fire resistance of sheetrock walls in an amount equivalent to the addition of a second layer of sheetrock, at a less than half of the cost. Other contracts are for fireproofing decks and walls of multiple-dwelling units in several states.

The risk reduction capabilities of Firefree 88 are beginning to be widely recognized, IFRS says, with the paint used for a high-visibility support structure at the new PacBell Stadium in San Francisco, and slated for use buildings for the Year 2000 Olympics in Australia and at the United Nations Building in New York.