Last month, 5NEWS followed a company as it installed bomb resistant film on the doors and windows of a Sequoyah County school.
On Saturday (Feb. 9), Solar Eclipse, LLC demonstrated just how effective the film is on sample windows treated with the same protective film used at the school.
First, they shot the window with a 9mm assault rifle. The window was still intact. Then, the company's owner, Jason Sparkman, took a baseball bat to the same window. The protective film remained unaffected.
Sparkman took the demonstration a step further.
“We have three pounds of explosives sitting on a stump between a group of windows,” said Stackman.
Some of the windows in the group had been treated with the protective film and some had not. In order to ignite, Sparkman said the explosives needed to be shot by a bullet traveling at least 2,200 feet per second.
After the explosion, Sparkman pointed out untreated windows were broken in the blast. The windows treated with the protective film were still standing.
Sparkman said the protective film could prevent intruders from gaining access to a school.
Following the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Sparkman's company has offered to apply the protective film to the windows and doors at the elementary school for free. "We would like to provide a safe environment for their kids to attend school in."
The protective film is not only intended to protect school children. According to Sparkman, it can also be used on homes and cars.
“We live in tornado alley so any kind of debris that would fly around in a storm, it would withstand that,” said Sparkman.
Firefighters see the damaging effects strong winds can have firsthand.
“As far as glass, the worst thing is when limbs fall and break through glass," said Captain Mark Hess with the Fort Smith Fire Department. "It can be damaging. It can be life-threatening if a limb was to fall and break through glass.”
Firefighters caution that while a protective film can prevent a person from being harmed by broken glass, it can also inhibit a person's ability to get out of the car or home.
"A lot of times when we get [to a scene], we'll actually break the glass," said Captain Gabriel Flanagan with the Fort Smith Fire Department. He said a protective film may slow down the rescue.
"We have tools on the rescue truck that we can use to cut through those protective films," said Capt. Flanagan, "but they do pose an issue for the first responders coming on."
To learn more about the protective film, contact Solar Eclipse, LLC at 479-461-2910 or via email at solareclipse.tint@yahoo.com.