Water Mist Fire Protection Systems for Engine Compartments in Buses and Coaches

2026-07-22

Transports’ fire protection systems have been undergoing significant changes in the last decade, in response to a number of fires, with devastating consequences, both in Europe and worldwide. This has led the European Union to review the Regulation nª 107, requiring that all new vehicles exceeding 22 passengers, should have an automatic fire detection and suppression system in the engine compartment. In this frame, Firing SRL, an Italian company well known in the fire industry, is developing SNIPER, an unrivalled water mist fire protection system, environmentally friendly and safe for human health, which has unique advantages. It secures (1) both cooling and extinguishing capabilities; (2) independence of the mounting position; (3) a total discharge of the extinguish agent 10-20 seconds; (4) the avoidance of false alarms; (5) an effective coating against reignition; (6) an extinguishing container depressurized; (7) antifreeze protection up to -50 °C and; (8) easy restoration after use. Thanks to its main innovative components: (1) a single multi-nozzle head which discharges water all over the engine compartment; (2) a unique valve to de-crease gas pressure and activate the system at the same time and (3) a water piston to re-lease the water, SNIPER is able to shorten the extinguish time by 40%, to reduce water consumption up to 90%, to decrease the gas and water pressure by 90% and 50% respectively and to avoid close to 400 kg CO2 emissions due to a bus burnout. SNIPER will be commercialized in Italy and Germany, in a first stage and gradually in all 28-EU countries, only for new buses. Then, SNIPER will be extended to buses retrofitting in other countries in and out of Europe and finally, it will be opened to new market niches (i.e., trucks and heavy machinery). This strategy will create 18 new positions in Firing, both internal and freelance. In three years, SNIPER will generate a cumulative profit of €7,72M translated into a IRR of 87% and NPV of €3,57M.

Italy

2026-02-15