A breakthrough in bushfire protection has arrived in NSW's Far South Coast.
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It is a sprinkler automation system with sensors that activates sprinklers only when it sees fires, rather than heat, smoke and embers.
It means people no longer have to 'stay and defend' their homes.
Instead they can leave their properties while it is still safe knowing the sprinkler system will come on as fire approaches.
The system suits also holiday homes where owners may not physically be there to turn on the sprinkler.
It is ideal for Four Winds too which often sits unoccupied for stretches of time in its stunning bushland setting.
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Saving lives
South Australia's Graham Pole developed Embarr.
A volunteer firefighter since 1979 and paramedic for 39 years, he has spent his life saving lives.
A few years ago he stopped going out on fire trucks on bad days because there was no one to look out for his elderly parents who live with him in the Adelaide Hills.
When he went looking for sprinkler automation systems "none of the products on the market were adequate so I started doing research and the Embarr Argus system was born", Mr Pole said.
It is the result of eight years of research and development, millions of dollars of investment and input from two universities and 15 engineers.
Foolproof
The system has sensors that can see little fires within a 12 metre range and a fire front 250 metres distant.
It incorporates computer chips and will alert the control unit if the sensors aren't working.
"If I leave my parents to go out fighting fires I have to know it is foolproof so I put my years of fire experience into it," he said.
The design is so good that it is the first product in 17 years to get a US patent on its first attempt.
Furthermore, the system turns the sprinkler intermittently on and off as the fire front approaches to optimise the sprinkler's fuel and water reserves.
Like having a firefighter on your roof
Mr Pole said it is a game changer for fighters whose priorities are to protect lives, protect property and then fight fires.
"It means people can leave, we don't have to protect the property so we can concentrate on putting out the fire and protecting other properties," Mr Pole said.
"Once enough systems are out there, it will hugely assist the local fire brigade do the job it wants - put out fires.
"It is like having a firefighter on your roof, ready to go into action."
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