Break glass in an emergency
Firefly, a Northern Ireland-based firm, has launched a fire safety product which it believes will become a £million-plus seller across the British Isles over the next few years.
The patented device, known as BreakOut, is designed to break any type of window in the event of a domestic fire at the push of a button.
Although double-glazing and toughened glass windows are increasingly common in modern homes, they are also very difficult to break. While the latest building regulations insist that new homes must include an easily accessible escape window in every upstairs bedroom, it’s estimated that around 20 million households in the UK were built before the new standards were introduced.
BreakOut has been developed by Stephen Maher of Firefly at a cost of £200,000 over a three-year period. It contains a powerful spring that safely breaks windows in a split second and has a slim-line design that allows the device to be discretely placed behind blinds or curtains.
Stephen said: “I was inspired to invent BreakOut when I realised that in the event of a fire it would be virtually impossible to smash the double-glazed windows in my own house. I went out immediately to buy window hammers, but I didn’t take too long to work out that hammers could be easily misplaced or misused.
“That was the start of a process which has taken three years, a thousand man hours and a considerable amount of support from my fellow Firefly directors, Brian and Kieran Lavery, to design BreakOut, get it patented and secure EU accreditation.”
