By NOEL MURPHY
Geelong mayor Darryn Lyons has been wrongly linked to unapproved “exploding” fire extinguishers, according to his Big Group of Companies.
Big chief Mario Gregorio said a Fairfax report this week about Darryn Lyons and the “fire balls” was “all untrue”
“Darryn and I don’t know anything about the fire balls – it’s not even on our radar.
“At this stage we’ve agreed to set up a company, it’s still nothing at the moment. We’ve gone into partnership with some guys in Dubai (and) one of the things they distribute is these fireballs.
“We’re not planning to sell them in Australia.”
Cr Lyons was away on holidays with newly-arrived fiance Elissa Friday and unavailable to comment.
The “exploding” fire extinguishers reportedly detonate when placed in contact with flames.
Promotional material for the Lifetech product describes it as a revolutionary ball-shaped extinguisher.
“When touched by a naked flame it will activate within three seconds and effectively disperse extinguishing chemicals,” the company’s website says.
“The ball can be mounted in high-risk areas prone to fire. When a fire occurs and no one is present the fire extinguisher ball will self-activate when it comes into contact with fire and produce a loud noise to warn people nearby.”
Fairfax reported that authorities had reservations about the anti-fire ball.
However, Lifetech said no special training or skill was required to operate the ball, which required no inspections or maintenance over its five-year lifespan.
The Fairfax reporter who wrote the story said Lifetech made only the extinguisher ball, he tried to contact Cr Lyons multiple times and ASIC records showed Lifetech’s mother company was based in Hong Kong, not Dubai.
