Born From a Firefighter’s Question:
“There’s Bound to Be a Better Way”
The Story Behind Eugene Ivy’s Fog Nozzle Technology
Inventor: Eugene Ivy | Ivy Rotating Piercing Nozzle
Long before the I.R.P.N. became a specialized firefighting tool, it began with a simple observation from former firefighter and inventor Eugene Ivy:
“As I watched, I thought there’s bound to be a better way.”
More than two decades before the original publication of this story, Ivy watched firefighters battle a blazing supermarket fire. Crews were working from the roof, cutting openings in an effort to gain access ahead of the advancing fire.
“The roof looked like a piece of bacon, and there were firemen on it cutting holes to gain access ahead of the fire,” Ivy recalled.
Watching those firefighters work in dangerous conditions gave Ivy the idea that would become an obsession: find a way to attack fire more effectively while increasing the distance and protection available to the firefighter holding the hose.
For Ivy, the purpose of the invention has always been straightforward:
“It is strictly for the safety of the firefighters—everybody goes home.”
From Napkin Sketches to a New Kind of Fog Nozzle
Ivy began working through his ideas wherever inspiration struck. Designs were sketched on restaurant napkins. New concepts sent him into his basement machine shop at night. Years of experimentation, machining, testing, and refinement followed.
The result was a firefighting nozzle designed around the production and projection of an immense fog pattern rather than relying solely on a conventional concentrated water stream.
An early version of the technology was known as the “First Attack.”
At the center of the design was a rotating nozzle system engineered to break water into an extremely fine fog and project it outward as a large protective cloud. The patented design described the interaction of the rotating elements this way:
“Rotating in opposite directions creates a thrust vortex between the two nozzles. This vortex adds a push to the fog cloud.”
That principle was intended to accomplish something fundamentally important: put a substantial volume of finely divided water into the fire environment while helping the firefighter maintain distance from extreme heat.
Why Fog?
Water is an extraordinarily effective firefighting medium because of its ability to absorb heat. Breaking that water into smaller droplets dramatically increases its total exposed surface area.
When properly applied into a high-temperature environment, fine water droplets can absorb heat rapidly and convert to steam. This expansion and heat absorption can contribute to rapid cooling of the fire environment while reducing the conditions necessary to sustain combustion.
Ivy’s nozzle was designed to capitalize on these characteristics by producing a dense, far-reaching fog pattern—described in the original account as extending approximately 30 feet.
Rather than simply directing a narrow stream toward the seat of the fire, the objective was to create a broad cloud of finely divided water capable of absorbing tremendous amounts of thermal energy.
For the firefighter behind it, that fog pattern could also create a substantial water barrier between the operator and the heat source.
Tested by Firefighters
Ivy didn’t want the concept to exist only on paper. He took the nozzle to fire departments and training facilities, demonstrating the technology to the people who would actually have to trust it.
Veteran firefighter and Washington State Patrol Fire Training Academy instructor Ralph Omlid was among those who evaluated the nozzle.
After seeing the technology develop, Omlid described it simply:
“[The nozzle] is one-of-a-kind.”
Omlid, who had 28 years of firefighting experience at the time, also saw applications beyond conventional structural fire attack.
“His nozzle is ideal for contained fires and even liquid and gas fires.”
The nozzle also attracted the attention of working fire departments.
Grays Harbor Fire Department District 8 in Pacific Beach, Washington, purchased four of Ivy’s nozzles. Fire Chief John Column highlighted two benefits that mattered directly to his crews: speed and firefighter protection.
“I love ’em. They save us time and keep my men safer.”
That statement captured exactly what Ivy had been trying to accomplish from the beginning.
Designed With the Firefighter in Mind
The I.R.P.N. concept was never simply about producing an impressive spray pattern. Ivy’s focus was the firefighter standing behind the nozzle.
One design objective was to produce an effective fog pattern while maintaining manageable nozzle reaction, helping make the hose easier for an individual firefighter to control during certain exterior applications.
That capability could be particularly valuable when conditions make immediate interior entry unsafe or unnecessary. A firefighter operating from a protected exterior position may be able to introduce a substantial fog pattern into an involved space while maintaining greater separation from the fire environment.
The philosophy behind the equipment can be summarized by Ivy’s own words:
“Everybody goes home.”
More Than an Invention
Developing the nozzle required years of experimentation, prototypes, testing, demonstrations, and personal investment.
Ivy’s wife, Bonnie, supported him throughout the long trial-and-error process. When asked about what had gone into developing his invention, Ivy summed up the commitment behind it in five words:
“We’ve got our lives in this.”
He meant it.
As a gesture of appreciation, Ivy even designed Bonnie her own “First Attack”—not another firefighting nozzle, but a diamond- and ruby-studded pendant made in the shape of one.
It was a fitting symbol for an invention that had grown from sketches on napkins and late nights in a basement machine shop into firefighting equipment placed in the hands of working firefighters.
The I.R.P.N. Legacy
The technology has continued to evolve, but the mission behind Eugene Ivy’s work remains unchanged.
Produce an immense, effective fog pattern. Absorb heat rapidly. Give firefighters another tool for attacking difficult fires. And, above all, increase the margin of safety between the firefighter and the hazard.
The I.R.P.N. is the product of a firefighter looking at the way things had always been done and asking whether there could be a better way.
Decades later, perhaps the most important description of the invention still comes from its inventor:
“It is strictly for the safety of the firefighters—everybody goes home.”
Featured Quotes
“It is strictly for the safety of the firefighters—everybody goes home.”
— Eugene Ivy, Inventor
“As I watched, I thought there’s bound to be a better way.”
— Eugene Ivy
“[The nozzle] is one-of-a-kind.”
— Ralph Omlid, veteran firefighter and fire-training instructor
“I love ’em. They save us time and keep my men safer.”
— Fire Chief John Column
“We’ve got our lives in this.”
— Eugene Ivy