Halon Fire Suppression Deaths

For many years halon 1301 was the holy grail of fire suppressants for high value assets that would be damaged by traditional sprinkler systems.

Halon fire suppression deaths.

But in 1989 when the montreal protocol determined that halon depleted the ozone layer and the u s. What is halon and how does it work. Halon is a liquefied compressed gas that stops the spread of fire by chemically disrupting combustion. Environmental protection agency subsequently banned its manufacture in 1994 the search was on for.

Very high temperature flame or contact with red hot metal can cause decomposition of halon 1301 to toxic byproducts. Prior to the incident the company had decommissioned a system at an infirmary satellite facility that used high pressure halon gas to suppress fire. Between the 1920s and 1960s carbon dioxide was the only gaseous fire suppression agent used to any degree but halon based systems were used extensively beginning in the 1960s. Halon 1211 also has low toxicity although it is more toxic than halon 1301 and thus considered unsuitable for flooding systems.

However halon 1301 fire suppression is not completely non toxic. A 300 pound halon tank from that system was.