By Duncan Adams
The Roanoke Times
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Fire poked through the roof about 8:25 p.m. Tuesday. Soon after, flames fully engulfed the left half of the abandoned duplex. The right half simply smoldered. And smoldered. Firefighters participating in the training exercise checked their watches and wondered when flames would take the right side, too.
“It’s amazing, the difference,” said Curtis Whitt, training officer for the Blacksburg Fire Department.
The difference was this: The blazing half of the duplex had not been treated with Fire/Blast, a high-tech fire retardant coating developed by two scientists from Blacksburg-based NanoSonic. The right side had.
Vince Baranauskas, 31, director of polymer science and engineering for NanoSonic, and Michael Bortner, 33, director of manufacturing process development, were at the scene Tuesday night as firefighters from departments in Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Longshop/McCoy burned the structure near the intersection of Turner and Barger streets.
Before firefighters ignited straw and wood pallets to start the fire, both Baranauskas and Bortner said they felt confident that Fire/Blast would be an effective fire retardant. Yet they acknowledged there could be unforeseen issues.
Two hours later, the men were afire with excitement.
One side of the duplex roared with fire. The coated side did not.
“This is outstanding,” Bortner said. “This is fantastic,” Baranauskas said. “This is a best-case scenario.”
NanoSonic, currently based in Blacksburg but on the cusp of relocating to Giles County, is a private nanotechnology company with about 70 employees.
About three years ago, the small company responded when the U.S. Navy sought better protection for its fleet from fire and related smoke toxicity.
Research and development yielded Fire/Blast, which NanoSonic has said has the capacity to resist and restrict damage from both intense heat and explosive blasts.
Baranauskas, a synthetic chemist, formulated the fire and blast resistant resin.
Bortner focused on how to scale up its manufacture.
Bortner shed his lab coat last week to help prep the duplex off Turner Street for Tuesday night’s demonstration.
Over four days, he and others sprayed about 110 gallons of the resin throughout the building’s attic and roof, inside and out.
Nearly a year ago, the independent Southwest Research Institute tested Fire/Blast’s resistance to both fire and blasts and found both to be impressive.
NanoSonic believes the resin has great potential for both defense and commercial applications. Scott Weeks is plant manager for UFP Mid-Atlantic in Pearisburg.
The company manufactures trusses and other products.
He witnessed the fire Tuesday.
Weeks said an effective fire retardant spray for houses, nursing homes and other structures could be “a potential gold mine for NanoSonic.” Baranauskas said intense heat eventually transforms Fire/Blast to what is essentially a form of glass that resists fire.
For structures, increased resistance to flames could provide people more time to flee and firefighters more time to save the building.
Whitt said those qualities would be a boon to firefighters.
“The biggest thing is, if it will save lives and property, we’re all for it,” he said.
Blacksburg developer Bob Pack offered the house to the Blacksburg Fire Department for fire training to help clear the way for a parking garage and retail development on the edge of the Virginia Tech campus.
On July 10, the department had burned an adjacent house.
Keith Bolte, chief of the Blacksburg Fire Department, said such hands-on training is invaluable.
“It doesn’t come around too often,” Bolte said. “It’s very fortunate.”
For more information about NanoSonic, visit the company website.
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