Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
Hastings-Lennox Addington MP Mike Bossio was in town Thursday to announce a $325,000 investment in a Napanee-based company that’s been catching fire in the flame suppression business.
FireRein, which produces the ground breaking Eco-Gel in its offices at 212 Camden Road in Napanee, will use the money to take its product to the global market. The food-grade water additive gel is one of a kind in that it quickly extinguished large scale fires while leaving no lasting effects on the environment.
“It works better than what’s on the market now and introduces absolutely zero toxicity into the environment,” said Rui Resendes, president and chief executive officer of FireRein.
As part of his talk, Resendes showed clips of Eco-Gel in action. The videos documented firefighters extinguishing both a wooden structure fire as well as an ignited oil spill.
Resendes noted the company has come a long way since it first set up shop in Napanee back in 2014 and is growing every year.
“The investment from FedDev Ontario allows us to significantly enhance our scale-up and business development activities. This support will accelerate the widespread adoption of Eco-Gel, ultimately enabling firefighters to knock-down fires faster and with less water while safeguarding human health and the environment,”added Resendes.
Bossio, who presented the FedDev funding on behalf Navdeep Bains, minister of innovation, science and economic development, says the product represents everything he believes in by creating jobs in a rural community while protecting the environment.
“This epitomizes all those areas and I couldn’t be more excited to be here to make this announcement,” said Bossio.
FireRein’s Eco-Gel is already in use by fire departments across Canada, including Stone Mills. This past summer it was used in the efforts to control the wildfires in British Columbia.
“When the fire started in British Columbia I was so pleased to see FireRein stepped up to help in that very dire situation,” said Bossio. “(FireRein’s) work shows that innovative clean technology can help save lives while protecting the environment. Our community is truly a great place for innovative commercial operations such as (FireRein) to scale up and succeed in both domestic and international markets.”
FedDev Ontario’s repayable contribution will allow the company to leverage up to $650,000 from accredited members of the Southeastern Ontario Angel Network.
“With this funding, FireRein will be able to fully commercialize Eco-Gel in local and global markets,” added Bossio. “This project is expected to create three permanent, full-time jobs here in Napanee.”