Alchemical suggestions wanted...

[melinda_goodin]

Turns out I subconsciously pinched my alchemist's breath-clearing mix from Tamora Pierce's "Cold Fire," which I read a couple of years ago and decided to reread today. At least if I must subconsciously pinch, I do it from the best. So much for that. (and... bugger

Comments

[mikandra]

I think that would make him desirable at the hospital.

I would think it'd be fairly simple: how about a chemical mix to put out fire? You could do some real-life reading about the white powdery/foamy stuff that's in the red fire-extinguishers. It would, of course work only in oil fires (kitchens, places where people store paints and glues), which would be hard to put out with water.

[melinda_goodin]

He had his reasons for wanting to be at the fire station rather than the hospital...

Thanks for the suggestion - it's a good one! I'll follow it up at work on Wednesday. Fortunately, my university runs fire technician courses for the Fire Brigade :}

Lots of Stuff

[marsgov]

On conference call, but here's quick notes.

There's lots of stuff possible; for example, a paste that makes garments or skin more heat/flame resistant.

Let's disaggregate the job of a firefighter: find, contain, extinguish, rescue, verify, and perhaps others.

How about a dust that clears smoke from the air? Something that would help detect fire victims? Emergency -- expensive, painful, damaging, but sometimes necessary -- cooling? A color-changing dust that helps detect hidden flames after the fire is struck, so wall need not be torn down? A "living object detector" to look for survivors post-fire?

Forensics also interesting.

Finally, nothing wrong with alchemy to fix smoke inhalation even if someone else used it first.

Re: Lots of Stuff

[melinda_goodin]

*makes notes*

hmmm. I could definitely work with these! Thanks!