Bianca Wittenberg invented Fire Fighter 1 because, as a realtor, she saw many homes destroyed by wild fires. It often takes emergency responders a considerable amount of time to reach a home, which results in more damage or even complete loss. If home owners had a quick way to start putting water on a fire, they could potentially save their home. There’s one catch: if you want to use this product, you need a swimming pool.
Fire Fighter One is a system that attaches to your pool’s pump. It has either 50 or 100 feet of fire hose with a high pressure nozzle. In case of a fire, homeowners simply flip a switch and use their pool pump to put water on the fire. A home owner can then wet down their roof and prevent their home from being engulfed until the pros get there. A typical pool pump will let you spray water 45 feet and it pumps 80 gallons per minute. Most pools hold between 10,000 and 45,000 gallons of water.
Wittenberg lives in an area in California where wild fires are common. Embers landing on roofs cause a lot of houses to catch fire. Quick action in such a situation will save a home. While it only helps pool owners, it can still save a home. Wittenberg likely wants to attract some attention to her product and get a Shark’s help with marketing.
My Take on Fire Fighter 1
We have a pool, so we could use this product. Last year, we had a close call with a fire on Christmas Eve. We had a bonfire and we put it out (or so we thought) and went to bed. I got up to use the bathroom and saw my back yard engulfed in flame. The fire was getting close to the fence when I put it out with a garden hose. Had I not gotten up, we could have had a scary situation!
I definitely see a need for this product. The only problem is only 8% of American homes have a pool. This really limits the market. Ultimately, this is what will cause Wittenberg to not get a deal.
Will Sharks Swim in This Pool?
As I stated above, I don’t think Fire Fighter 1 gets a deal. Lori is a big fan of first responders, but this isn’t a QVC type product, so she’ll pass. Mark won’t see it as investable, he’ll pass too. Daymond, Kevin and Daniel will also pass. I think this pitch is dead in the water, which is not a poor reflection on the product, it’s just too niche for the Sharks.
Entrepreneur, auteur, raconteur. Rob Merlino is a blogger and writer who enjoys the Shark Tank TV show and Hot Dogs. A father of five who freelances in a variety of publications, Rob has a stable of websites including Shark Tank Blog, Hot Dog Stories, Rob Merlino.com and more.
I saw this on shark tank and I have an idea to help improve your product if you would like to speak with me you can call me 757-497-2135 send me an email
The product will not work as intended, and was obviously not fully tested. Once the pump pulls out enough water for the level to fall under the intake line for the skimmer, the pump can no longer pump water, but pumps air. That line is just inches below the top of the pool, so at most, just a couple of thousand gallons of water could be pulled out, or about ten percent of the water in the average inground pool. There is a reason why in order to drain a swimming pool that you have to use a drop in pump.
Excellent point. Appears they would have to fill the pool with fresh water during operation as a solution.
If that’s the case then how do you completely drain your pool there’s a drain at the very bottom of every pool that’s the valve that you hook it to
I have two or three super great ideas to help increase the demograph of this product if you’re interested feel free to contact me at the email provided I think this is a great product and every house should have it
You should turn your valve to pull from the main drain , not the skimmer during this tisssme
This will fix this problem.
I am Roger Pitman, a Realtor and Home Loan Officer in California. I also have an idea than can TRIPLE your volume of sales for homeowners that are in a fire hazard area, but don’t have a pool. Please call me to discuss at 7805-938-5353
Amazing
CORRECTION It appears there is a valve included to block the skimmer water and feed off the entire pool water.
I’m a 18yr pool professional,this is a great idea, but needs some help.
would like to consult, with Biancia, Lori, and Mark, to make this a workable product.
Thanks Chuck
In line with what Tony noted, there would have to be a quick adapter to the skimmer that will suck the water from the bottom of the pool. An additional 8 ft of lifting will affect flow rate and that reduced flow would have to be stated in the advertising.
Having trained with volunteer firefighters, fire fighters already know to drop a suction line into pools, so I doubt there is headway to be made there.
Best of luck on a great idea. I have no doubt that it will save property, and, more importantly, lives.
First off on Shark Tank the woman had the valve on the wrong side of the pump. She had it on the suction side it needs to be on the return side. The homeowner would have to know how to shut off the skimmer and only pull from thr bottom drain if they have one.I am a pool professional and most of my customers would not know how to do it. She should realized the valve would not work the way she had it configured.