We’ve all seen the images of homeowners trying to save their properties against a wall of flames, with what looks like a spurt from a garden hose.

If only those people knew about “Barricade Gel” or “POK Quickstick foam.”

Barricade concentrate is a thermal protective gel that you can attach to your garden hose and spray your house down with to prevent it from catching fire. The gel provides a high level of protection from radiant heat, flying embers, and direct flame. The goo goes into your garden hose out of a plastic container, the same way you would attach pesticide to a hose and spray for bugs.

Firefighters have been using this stuff for years, but it is available to the public, and the formula is being improved all the time. This could have been very useful to the folks in SoCal a week ago. I hear when they do demos of Barricade Gel, they coat a door with it, then take a blowtorch to it, and it doesn’t burn. When I called the Barricade headquarters in Kansas to find out more, they were totally swamped with calls today, and it’s no wonder. If I lived in Southern California, and had a chance to save my home, I’d be on the horn too. I found out about Barricade Gel, after talking with Tom at LineGear in Southern California. I originally had called his company to find out more about fire shelters that firefighters use — affectionately called “shake and bakes” after seeing this picture in the L.A. Times.

These firefighters were nearly engulfed in flames on a ridge off Santiago Canyon Road in Orange County. Someone on the crew hollered out to deploy their emergency packs so that the fire wouldn’t burn them alive. The metallic shelter, that makes them look a little like astronauts on the moon, luckily kept these firefighters a little toasty, but safe. My good friend and Fox News legal analyst Jim Hammer is the one who tipped me off to fire suits, after seeing the story, and amazing picture in the L.A. Times.

(You may have to complete a free registration form at the L.A. Times site to view the article — but trust me, it’s worth it!)

He was in L.A. on the front lines of the fires to cover the story for Greta! He hopped on board a plane from his home in San Francisco armed with a new handy-cam and headed into the mess to get new video for her show, and to interview victims displaced from the wildfires. I hope you had a chance to see some of his work, because it was great! Last night, Jim talked with some people who were literally standing in the ashes of the place they used to call home, as they walked him through the charred remains of their existence. It was very compelling.

Back to the new fire technology…. I also learned about a product by POK called “Quick Stik Technology” is an advanced foam spraying system that is a wetting agent that allows you to spray foam on a fire, that is proven to put out flames much faster than water. Again, something that fire departments use, but can be purchased by the public that many people don’ t know about. Cool stuff, and good goop to have on hand if you are a homeowner in fire prone areas of the country.

For more on these products, check out www.linegear.com and www.barricadegel.com