Fire proximity suit - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A fire proximity suit (also, silvers or silver bunker suit) is a suit designed to protect a firefighter

Firefighter

Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...

from high temperatures, especially near fires of extreme temperature such as aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

fires.

Fire proximity suits first appeared during the 1930s

1930s

File:1930s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson show the effects of the Great Depression; Due to the economic collapse, the farms become dry and the Dust Bowl spreads through America; The Battle of Wuhan during the Second Sino-Japanese...

, and were originally made of asbestos

Asbestos

Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...

fabric (hence also known as the asbestos suit). Today they are manufactured from vacuum-deposited

Vacuum deposition

Vacuum deposition is a family of processes used to deposit layers atom-by-atom or molecule-by-molecule at sub-atmospheric pressure on a solid surface. The layers may be as thin as one atom to millimeters thick . There may be multiple layers of different materials...

aluminized materials that reflect the high radiant loads produced by the fire.

There are three basic types of these aluminized suits:

Approach suit—used for work in the general area of high temperatures such as steel mill
Steel mill
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...

s and smelting facilities. (Ambient heat protection up to ~200 °F (93 °C).)
Proximity suit—used for aircraft rescue and fire fighting (AR-FF) and, in more heavily insulated versions, for kiln work requiring entry into the heated kiln. (Kiln suit ambient protection ~2000 °F (1,093 °C) and proximity ambient protection~ 500 °F (260 °C))
Entry suit—used for entry into extreme heat and situations requiring protection from total flame engulfment. Most commonly made of Fyrepel and not aluminized. (Entry suit ambient protection ~2000 °F (1,093 °C)) for short duration and prolonged radiant heat
Thermal radiation
Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation generated by the thermal motion of charged particles in matter. All matter with a temperature greater than absolute zero emits thermal radiation....

up to 1500 °F (816 °C).

Complete proximity protection for AR-FF requires:

Aluminized hood or helmet cover with neck shroud
Aluminized jacket and pants complete with vapor barrier
Vapor barrier
A vapor barrier is often used to refer to any material for damp proofing, typically a plastic or foil sheet, that resists diffusion of moisture through wall, ceiling and floor assemblies of buildings and of packaging...

insulated liner
Aluminized lined gloves
Aluminized AR-FF boots
Self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) (aluminized covers for air bottles, or suits that cover the air pack are also available)

See also