For the unversed, Sivakasi is the hub of the fireworks industry in Tamil Nadu, which is supplying nearly 90% of the nation’s demand for fireworks.
One should know that it is also the same place where a number of fire accidents have occurred, costing many lives.
The 13-year-old son of one such victim (who luckily survived the accident) developed an economic fire extinguisher that activates water motor without delay the moment it senses heat. The young prospect identified as Jayakumar is from Sivakasi.
Jayakumar, a Class 9 student, wanted to focus on stopping mishaps and overcoming fires before they spread, ever since his mother, a daily labourer at one of these cracker factories, picked up serious burns during an accident.
So, the young teenager made up his mind that he wanted to invent something that would keep his mother and other people safe at work as safety is always the first priority.
Developed with the help of his science teacher, Karunai Das, the extinguisher comes with a heat sensor that detects an increase in temperature that could be caused due to friction. As a result, this triggers an alarm, which is linked to a water tank and a motor. A sprinkler that will drench the flames is activated in no time.
Jayakumar exhibited the device at the Beyond Carlton Memorial function on February 27, where he briefed about the process with the help of a sensor and a cardboard model of a factory.
This is not the first that Jayakumar came up with an innovation. Earlier, he had worked on developing an LPG gas leak sensor that works on the same principle, which had won him national recognition.
Currently, he is now working with his teacher in a bid to build and enhance the fire extinguisher model on a larger scale.