Danbury's Own Modern Marvels on Display

Funny thing about modern marvels.

They’re all around us.

That slurpy machine at 7-Eleven, is an engineering masterpiece, said Mark Young, field producer for Half Yard Productions of Bethesda, MD. Half Yard produces the Modern Marvels television show for the History Channel. Young was in San Antonio, Texas two weeks ago on a different assignment, which included looking at the engineering that goes into a slurpy machine.

“You wouldn’t believe the engineering that goes into that little box,” Young said. “Modern marvels are all around us.”

Young and a television crew borrowed the Danbury Fire Department Tuesday to investigate pressure. Earlier, the same film crew visited Avery Beverages in New Britain, a soda bottling plant, to look at carbonated sodas under pressure, and the same episode will look at shaving cream, which is also under pressure.

“These are every-day things that people take for granted,” that make up Modern Marvels, Young said. “What is the fascinating thing about things you take for granted?”

At the Fire Department’s New Street headquarters, the television team worked with firefighters on how water pressure helps fight fires.

How much pressure is required at the end of a 3-inch fire hose to fight a fire?

Why should the water be under pressure at all?

Nick Cabral, a firefighter for five years, explained that a fire hose that tosses water 40 to 70 feet lets the firefighter extinguish a fire from a safe distance.

“You don’t want to breath smoke,” said Training Officer Mark Omasta. “Too many carcinogens.”

When firefighters hook up to a fire hydrant, what is the pressure of the water coming out of the hydrant? Young asked.

“Anywhere from 25 pounds per square inch to 130 pounds,” Omasta said.

After filming Cabral at fire engine 22 (Double Deuce), Young wanted another firefighter for some footage of removing hose from the engine.

Omasta walked over to Matt Silk, an acting lieutenant in the department. Omasta put on his sweetest smile.

“Matty? He really likes you,” Omasta said. “He wants you to walk around the back and talk about the hoses.”

Abourt a half dozen firefighters watched the interviews, and that was harder on the ‘actors’ than the camera.

“I know the answers. It’s like a promotional exam,” Silk said. “What’s hard is everybody watching.”

Cabral said he worried about firefighters nationwide measuring his every word.

“You’re on the spot with everyone across the country,” Cabral said.

Young said what really happens to the hours of tape he shoots is that eight hours can be edited down to three to five minutes on air.