A flashover test Photo: Screenshot of Pear Video

A primary school student has invented a cat's eye water hose to protect her firefighter father and his colleagues. 

Zhong Xin, a third grader from Rui'an, Zhejiang Province, first got the idea when she saw a firefighter's eyebrow that had been burned by a flashover. 

She changed the water hose's outlet to a small one that can easily get through a cat's eye on a door. Zhong also installed a sprinkle head onto the outlet, which allows the water to come out like a shower, lowering the temperature around the door. 

A local firefighter told Pear Video that this small invention was actually very helpful in their daily work as it helped protect them from being injured by flashover fires. 

Flashover is a near-simultaneous ignition of the directly exposed combustible material in an enclosed space. It is highly dangerous, and firefighters with protective gear only have seconds to escape before being caught by it. 

Hotels and business buildings in China are required to install water sprinklers, but decades-old residential buildings are not equipped with the small object that can prevent flashovers. 

Pear Video