Fires

Gadgets

6 Tools That Are Saving Arizona From The Wildfires

2:30AM June 30, 2011 | Adrian Covert

Now that summer is heating up in the US, certain parts of the world are prone to one heat specific disaster: wildfires. They’re not fun, and they can destroy many lives in a flash. But it’s also an area where a lot of groundbreaking technology is put to use. Here are six of our favourite firefighting technologies: More »

Geek Out

How New York’s City Hall Nearly Burnt Down The Bronx

7:20AM April 22, 2011 | Andrew Tarantola

Firefighting is more than fancy hats and ladder trucks – there’s both a science and an art to it. Joe Flood’s The Fires shows how New York’s Finest take out a blaze from the top down. More »

Geek Out

The 7 Best Deep-Fried Turkey Disaster Videos

7:00AM November 27, 2010 | Eater.com

Today’s Thanksgiving, and a whole bunch of people are going to just toss a frozen turkey willy-nilly into a deep fryer, film the exploding fireball that results, and post it on YouTube. (For which we, of course, are very thankful.) More »

Utah Wildfire Was Started By Machine Guns

12:42AM September 21, 2010 | Kyle VanHemert

Over 100 firefighters are currently battling a blaze in Herriman, Utah, which has already scorched 3500 acres and displaced 1500 families. It started yesterday during the Utah National Guard’s machine gun practise. More »

Geek Out

One Way To Dispose Of Your Old iPhone: Melting It With A 65" DIY Death Ray

4:30AM June 28, 2010 | Kyle VanHemert

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http://www.youtube.com/v/U1jS59uJ3PA&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[] ,"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube","wrap":true} ); Hey, I’m not saying this is an environmentally sound way to get rid of old gadgets, or even a safe thing to set up in your backyard if you have children, pets, or a penchant for mischief, but, yes. [Dvice] More »

Amatoya Fire Recon Vehicle Wins Australian Student Design Award

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11:00AM June 11, 2010 | Nick Broughall

Last year when we showed you the Amatoya, a dual cannon bushfire recon vehicle, we sort of failed to mention that it was designed by an Australian Uni student. Well, last week, Liam Ferguson from Monash University took out the James Dyson student design award for his creation. More »

Possible Fire At The Foxconn Plant, Some May Be Injured

2:44PM May 30, 2010 | Rosa Golijan

There are scattered reports of a fire at the Foxconn plant in Shenzhen. It sounds like the company attempted to keep news of the incident silent, but supposedly some reporters who happened to be outside the facility spotted the fire trucks. More »

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If You Lived Here…Your Van Would Be On Fire

9:23AM October 8, 2009 | Wilson Rothman

Something tells me the Google Street View team should be equipped with emergency response gear and training. What tells me this? This van that’s totally on fire, for one thing. [Google via Twitter - thanks Will!]

Science

LA Smouldering From Space

1:40AM September 3, 2009 | Matt Buchanan

The LA fires have actually exploded to double the 245 kilometres they cover in this photo taken Sunday morning by NASA’s Terra satellite. I imagine this is sort of what LA will look like from space mid-apocalypse. [NASA via BoingBoing]

Gadgets

Lawnmowers, Killer Bees and Fire: Five Tales of Mowing Madness

9:00AM May 20, 2009 | Dan Nosowitz

Who knew a machine with razor-sharp blades spinning at 200RPM you’re supposed to sit on top of might cause injury or death? Here are gruesome tales of mowing mishaps—from this past month alone!

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