Story highlights The sound fire extinguisher looks like a conventional one

But it blasts out a low hum that makes flames disappear

(CNN) Boom out da fi-ya! Bass out da flames!

Firefighters may be snuffing blazes with deep-toned sound, if a new device invented by two engineering students in Fairfax, Virginia, catches on.

Viet Tran and Seth Robertson's new fire extinguisher looks a little like a conventional one, but instead of a compressed air tank spewing out chemicals, theirs has a loudspeaker the size of subwoofer drumming out sound waves.

It's not much to listen to, just a low hum, but when pointed at flames, it makes them vanish.

In a way, it's like blowing the fire out, because sound waves are basically multiple, regular blasts of air.

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