Fire in the house? Throw a vase!

The idea was patented and developed by some companies in South Korea, subsidiaries of Samsung.

A normal flower vase in translucent red glass, which in case of domestic fire becomes a practical and effective fire extinguisher. It is Firevase, the idea, revolutionary in its simplicity, that can represent the turning point in terms of home security.

CheilWorldwide, a marketing company based in Seoul under the Samsung group, for Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, conceived it and patented it and put it into production. It also thought of a design that would allow the vase to be integrated as a furnishing element. It consists, in essence, of two glass jars, one inside the other.

In the gap between the outer and inner pots, there is a potassium carbonate solution. All you have to do in case of fire is to take the pot, which will surely be in an easily accessible area of the house, and throw it into the flames. By breaking down in the impact, the potassium carbonate solution will generate a rapid cooling reaction that extinguishes the flames almost instantly. In South Korea, more than 10,000 apartment fires occur every year, let know from the company that invented Firevase, and despite a new law required all homes in the country to have a fire extinguisher by the end of 2017, research has shown that 58% of homes were without them.

Hence the idea of creating an object of design, but that also had a real utility aimed at home security. From September to December 2018, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance distributed more than 100,000 Firevase to South Korean homes, with the hope that it will arrive in Europe very soon.