In the aftermath of the Waldo Canyon and Black Forest fires Colorado Springs residents may wonder how they can protect their homes and prized possessions from possible fires in the future.  A local fireman and his friend may have provided a useful solution.

Colorado Springs Fire Department captain, Roy Dalton came up with the idea of putting a sprinkler on the roof during the Waldo Canyon fire and was able to implement the strategy during the Black Forest fire. He ran a hose and sprinkler head up the side of the house to douse the structure in water as the fire advanced. This house was the only house that remained standing on that street thanks to the use of the sprinkler.

“There were stories of grandmothers in their yards with water hoses trying to save their houses. They’re gonna die, these people are gonna want to evacuate. So we wanted to create a system that would give people peace of mind enough to leave their house.” founder Herman DaBoard said.

Dalton’s close friend, Herman DaBoard, is the successful business man that turned an idea into an actual patented product called the House Hydrant System.

The system works by having a 500 gallon tank with an independent tank, pump and power supply that sends out a stream of water to cover the house in a total of 20 minutes. The system would go off after a heat sensor reaches a certain temperature so as to eliminate the need to turn it on before evacuating and keeping residents safer. The water stream is to create a microclimate around the house by doing two things; lowering the temperature of the area and increasing the humidity of the air so that the house is no longer ignitable.

Although the system is proven effective, DaBoard considers the system to be number six on the list of mitigation below raking and clearing tree limbs.

Today the system is available for order and installation in Woodmoor, Black Forest, Palmer Lake, and Mountain Shadows in Colorado; as well as Huston, Texas; Los Angeles, California; and Boise, Idaho. Already the company has installed ten or eleven systems in the area in the last sixty-six days since the patent was acquired.

The company consists of ten partners and multiple installers around the country. The system is reliable because the panels that run them are by Honeywell Panels, a very trustworthy and well-known company.

For more information about the House Hydrant System, the house that was saved by the fire, or mitigation people can go to househydrant.com, KRDO, or KKTV.