Mythbusters – Voice Fire Extinguisher RESULTS
March 12, 2008 by Healthy Shana
So back in the late 1800’s early 1900’s Charles Kellogg claimed that he could use the sound waves from his voice to extinguish fire and he was known all over as the bird whisperer.
In the episode Voice Flame Extinguisher, the MythBusters put Charles Kellogg to the test to see:
1. Can an unamplified voice can put out a flame and;
2. Can sound alone can put out a fire.
1. They tried this myth in several ways and found that a high frequency bird voice demonstration does make the flame dance but it does not extinguish the flame. They tested multiple vocal ranges including the dog voice and initially began the experiments using candles. They were able to get the candles to extinguish after manipulating the sound waves several times. When they did try to test with larger flames and even used speakers they were not able to extinguish the flame at all. This myth was BUSTED: It proved to be impossible for an un-amplified voice to extinguish a candle; however, a singer in a local group was able to put the candle out through amplification of his voice through the use of speakers.
CONFIRMED: A pure, amplified tone was able to put out a well-sized fire. This can be done because the pressure waves from the sound disrupt the air enough to snuff out the flame. Also, using a high explosive bomb can put out flames since the blast wave pushes away the oxygen that fuels the fire, or the explosives use up so much oxygen so quickly, that the fire cannot sustain itself.
DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME: One note of caution these are for large scale fires, not small fires in your kitchen. For example oil well firefighters commonly use explosives to put out oil well fires.
I was in 1st Grade Grandview, MO 1951. Throughout school, by classroom doors they had small red glass jars on a mount, to be thrown at a fire as you were fleeing the classroom. I later learned they were filled with Carbon Tetrachloride.