Highlights
- Bianca Wittenberg pitches Fire Fighter1, an emergency fire hose that connects to a pool pump, seeking $150,000 for 15% equity on Shark Tank.
- The product allows homeowners to quickly access thousands of gallons of pool water to help protect their property during wildfires.
- Despite interest, concerns arise about the product’s effectiveness, leading to a deal with Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner for $150,000 for 25% equity, which ultimately did not close.
Overview
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Fire Fighter1 |
| Founder | Bianca Wittenberg |
| Industry | Fire Safety Equipment |
| Product | Emergency fire hose that connects to a pool pump |
| Funding | Sought $150,000 for 15% equity on Shark Tank |
| Investment Ask | $150,000 |
| Equity Offered | 15% |
| Valuation | $1 million |
Bianca Wittenberg pitches Fire Fighter1, her emergency fire hose that connects to a pool pump, in Shark Tank episode 1406. Wittenberg has been in the real estate business since 2010 and she opened her own brokerage in 2017. That’s also when she started developing Fire Fighter1. As a resident of an area that sees frequent wild fires, she knows how quickly they spread and time is of the essence when encountering a spreading fire.
Her device is a hose that connects to your pool pump, allowing you access to thousands of gallons of water quickly. Home owners can use the hose to stop embers from burning the roof until real firefighters arrive. In a rapidly spreading fire, this could be savior against catastrophic loss.
The hose attaches to your pool pump with a simple PVC diverter. If you’re comfortable messing with your pool’s pipes, you can easily do it yourself or you can ask your pool guys to connect it for you. In case of a fire, switch the diverter to direct water to your Fire Fighter1 hose, turn on the pool pump and pull the hose out of its storage box to start spraying the fire. There’s a high pressure nozzle on each hose to assure maximum pressure. There are 100 and 50 foot hose options. The 100 foot hose is $479 and the 50 foot option is $369. Bianca likely wants a Shark’s help getting more attention for her product.
Company Information
Video
Posts about Fire Fighter1 on Shark Tank Blog
Fire Fighter1 Shark Tank Recap
Bianca enters the Shark Tank seeking $150,000 for 15% equity in her company. She asks how many of the Sharks know somebody who’s had a fire, been evacuated of had a fire scare themselves. Wild fires are becoming more common in many parts of the country. As a homeowner you could evacuate, hope the fire department has enough resources to protect your property or you could grab a garden hose, spray the roof and perimeter and hope for the best. Her father saw people spraying their homes with a garden hose on the news for years. He knew there had to be a better way. Many homes had pools and he thought about getting fast access to pool water and Fire Fighter1 was born.
It’s the first affordable tool that allows homeowners to quickly access 25,000 gallons of pool water. If there’s a fire, grab the hose, connect the adapter to your pool pump, grab the nozzle and turn on the pump. In 30 seconds, you can be spraying pool water up to 40 feet. A video plays of a woman spraying a 35 foot roof. The roof in the video can be completely saturated in just 7 minutes. She wants to continue to build the Fire Fighter1 legacy for her dad.
Safety First
Bianca tells Kevin if you’ve been instructed to evacuate, you do it. This tool helps spraying roofs to protect from burning embers which can travel over a mile. It can also help with a small fire which can be put out before it spreads. She sells the hose with the adapter. Pools already have the pump. The 50 foot unit sells for $499 and costs $124 to build. She only builds 25-30 units at a time, with increased production she can increase her margins. The 100 foot unit costs $399 and costs $200 to make.
She lives in southern California where there are yearly fires. Her dad looked at the pool and wanted to be able to access that water. There are pumps where you can buy a separate pump and submerge it in the pool, but they’re expensive. Her dad came up with the idea when she was a kid. Unfortunately, he passed 5 years ago (2017) and Bianca decided to redevelop it. Lori asks if a fireman can use the tool to help do their job and Bianca says her goal is that fire departments would know which homes have this so they can use it.
Numbers
She just launched in February, 2022 and has $22,000 in sales; she’s sold 49 units. Bianca has been partnering with pool companies because they already have the relationship with customers. The pool company gets a 20% commission on a sale. If a pool store buys for inventory, she cuts the price 25%-30% depending on the number of units they buy.
Daniel says he loves the idea of helping people stay safe, but he doesn’t see where he can add value; he’s out. Kevin thinks it’s too early, he feels like he could make “hundreds of dollars;” he’s out. Daymond thinks a lot of people need this, but he wouldn’t be able to help; he’s out. Lori thinks the product needs a lot of “mouthpieces,” she asks Mark to go in with her. Mark asks if she’s patient because it’s going to take time to get the word out. Lori and Mark offer $150,000 for 25%. Bianca counters with 20% and Lori says no. Bianca then accepts their original offer.
Fire Fighter1 Shark Tank Update
The Shark Tank Blog constantly provides updates and follow-ups about entrepreneurs who have appeared on the Shark Tank TV show. On show night, Lori Tweeted:
“So important to support products that help save the world! #SharkTank
@ABCSharkTank”
Sales for the product doubled in the days following the initial air date.The first rerun of this episode occurrs in February, 2023, less than two months after the original air date. At this time, there is no evidence the deal with Lori and Mark closed.
Ultimately, the deal with Mark and Lori did not close. After airing, pool and fire safety professionals expressed concern about the product claiming it can’t produce enough flow to be effective and that it would give homeowners a false sense of security. As of July, 2024, lifetime sales are over $100,000.
The Shark Tank Blog will follow-up on Fire Fighter1 & Bianca Wittenberg as more details become available.
