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Afire proximity suit (also,silvers,silver bunker suit, orasbestos suit) is a suit designed to protect afirefighter orvolcanologist from extremely high temperatures. They were first designed and used in the 1930s. Originally made ofasbestos fabric, current models usevacuum-depositedaluminized materials.
Fire proximity suits first appeared during the 1930s, and were originally made ofasbestos fabric. Today they are manufactured from vacuum-deposited aluminized materials that reflect the high radiant loads produced by the fire.
An early manufacturer of the aluminized suits was theBristol Uniforms company under the direction ofPatrick Seager Hill.
In North America, theNational Fire Protection Association publishes the requirements for fire proximity suits under NFPA 1971,Standard on Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting. In order to comply with the NFPA standard, the components of the proximity suit are required to be tested and certified by independent third-parties, and bear the certifying body's logo and a compliance statement.[1] Such third-party certifications are issued by theSafety Equipment Institute (SEI) andUL Solutions.
There are three basic types of these aluminized suits:
Complete proximity protection for ARFF requires:
