Camarillo firefighter named top inventor - Xmas Tree Fire Protection

[Monty 35]

Some good press for the fire service for a change ......

From Ventura County News:

Camarillo firefighter named top inventor

Man's 'angel' beats rivals on TV show

By Jenni Mintz

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Greg Chavez won $1 million for his Guardian Angel invention, which helps to suppress Christmas tree fires.

A dream came true for Greg Chavez, a firefighter and father of six from Camarillo, who won $1 million on ABC's "American Inventor," revealed in the reality show's season finale Wednesday night.

At Topper's Pizza in Camarillo, Chavez, friends and family watched the pre-taped show as his Guardian Angel, designed to suppress Christmas tree fires, beat out the final competition: a convertible brassiere and a custom designed toy kit.

"It's amazing," Chavez said, after his wife and children rushed the stage to congratulate him during the taping. "A year ago, I was sitting in a chair at the house and I was watching the show, and I told my wife, I am going to win next year.' And she said, I know you are.'"

Chavez and five other finalists had defeated thousands of contenders in national auditions. He was one of three who advanced during the semifinal round that aired July 25. Viewers made the final decision, calling and text messaging their votes to ABC in a two-hour window after the show.

Chavez describes his invention as a small, pressurized tank of water that looks like a present placed under the Christmas tree. The tank is attached to a small hose leading to the top of the tree, where a temperature-sensitive fusible link is disguised as an angel. The heat from a fire pops the link and dispenses three gallons of water within four seconds to suppress the fire. An alarm sounds simultaneously to alert people to leave the house.

"Greg's invention it saves lives," said competitor Ricky DeRennaux, an Oklahoma teacher who invented the toy kit. "That's really hard to compete with. And boy, you can't put a price on someone's life."

Worked on invention for 15 years

In the season finale, First Alert President Tom Russo said he would work with Chavez to make his invention a household product.

Chavez, his family and friends were unable to speak to the media until the winner was announced, according to ABC's confidentiality agreement.

After working on his invention for 15 years, Chavez wouldn't jeopardize the contract because he believes in the Guardian Angel.

"There are 600 million homes in the world that celebrate Christmas," Chavez said during his pitch to the judges in the semifinal round. "The potential for tragedy is staggering."

Before "American Inventor" came along, Chavez had built a crude prototype, but didn't have the means to develop the product further.

The show, which proclaims it will find the next hottest product, held national casting calls in six major cities across the country. Chavez auditioned in San Francisco in late May.

A finalist was selected from each audition, and inventors were given $50,000 seed money for product development and market research. They had a month to work before the semifinal round, which would narrow the six finalists to three.

During that two-hour episode, the inventors presented their final products to the four judges to show what they had accomplished. There was no shortage of cringes and criticism from the judges.

The judges chided Elaine Cato, a Realtor from Tennessee, for not collecting market data on how many women would want backless bras.

Though they enjoyed DeRennaux's presentation, they wondered if his "Custom Build Racers" remote-control car and plane kits could be "the next must-have toy," or if it would get lost on the shelf. He was the first to be eliminated in the final round.

Two trees shown in flames

There was mostly praise for Chavez, who showed the Guardian Angel in action. He played a video of two Christmas trees in flames, one with the fire suppression system, the other without. The device extinguished the fire within three minutes, while the other fire had consumed the entire room in the same period of time.

"I'm not going to even question what you've done with $50,000," said judge Peter Jones, a co-creator of the show. "It's obvious."

Pat Croce, entrepreneur and judge, said Chavez's pitch was "incredible." But Croce said he struggled with whether the Guardian Angel could work not just once, but every time.

"We've seen it working once," Croce said. "I'd like to see it working 1,000 times before it goes to market."

On the Net: abc.go.com/primetime/americaninventor

E.W. Scripps Co.

© 2007 Ventura County Star

[RescueKujo 130]

I watched the end of the show last night. Glad to see him win. And I hope he has success with this. It appears to be a great idea.

[RC2389 0]

That's a great idea. Every time I see Christmas trees I think of the video we saw in FF1 where it took about 45 seconds for a real tree to catch fire, completely burn up and heat up the tiny test room it was in enough to flash over. Based on where I've seen friends put Christmas trees, half their houses would be up in flames in just minutes.

[Guest]

Link to a video of his sales pitch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_KD0k7JlZI

Atta Boy Greg, make us all proud!

[DOC22 1]

Congratulations to Firefighter Chavez on winning this. This truly looks like a real lifesaver!

Great job!!!!!!

[Guest]

here is another clip

[RWC130 594]

Nice to see great National Firefighter PR!

If just one life is saved it was all worth it,

but I have a feeling it will save many.

Good job FF Chavez!

[JohnnyOV 2]

any video of the system actually working?