Budapest Fire Chief, Inventor of the Dry Fire Extinguisher, Born 133 Years Ago

Coin commemorating the 125th anniversary of the birth of Kornél Szilvay from the series “Hungarian Engineers, Inventors.”

A former fire chief of Budapest invented the so-called dry extinguishing method (where the extinguishing agent is powder or foam instead of water) and the fire extinguishing system, still widely used today. Hungarian mechanical engineer Kornél Szilvay made significant achievements in the field of modern fire protection, not only at home, but also internationally.

The famous Hungarian engineer was born on July 25, 1890 in Budapest. He was interested in the work of the fire brigade even as a student and chose a career in this field. During his technical studies, he received training in fire protection as part of his technical education, and obtained his technician’s diploma at a top industrial school.

After completing his studies, he joined the Volunteer Fire Brigade of Budapest. He became a technical officer, soon to become chief officer, and in the meantime he was a conscientious developer.

He saw that in fires, especially warehouse fires, the damage caused by the extinguishing water often proved to be greater than the destruction caused by the fire.

Szilvay soon realized the disadvantage of using large quantities of extinguishing water to put out internal fires, sometimes leading to the total destruction of valuable material assets.

In 1923, he announced his first invention of the dry extinguishing process, a neutral gas-extinguishing machine. The advantages of using these extinguishers in terms of property preservation were illustrated by the 1925 fire in the National Casino’s tapestry room, where the valuable tapestries suffered only minor and reparable damage.

This fire inspired the installation of a high-powered dry fire extinguishing machine in Budapest in 1928,

manufactured by the Mávag Locomotive and Machine Works.

Mávag participated in the 1929 International Exhibition of the Paris Fire Brigade with an upgraded fire extinguisher. Nothing shows the success of the apparatus better than the fact that in addition to the locals, the American and Canadian fire brigades were also interested in it, writes the portal The World Famous Inventors, Outstanding Personalities of Hungarian Science.

As an inventor, Szilvay received patent protection for a total of thirty-nine inventions. The first of these was a motor vehicle starter that could be operated from an electrical mains supply in 1914.

During his career as a fireman, he conducted thousands of extinguishings, most notably

the water and damage-free extinguishing of the dome fire in the St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest in 1947.

Szilvay died in Budapest on September 8, 1957 at the age of 67.

Featured image via monetarium.hu