I remember this, too. My father at the time was involved in the other Hungarian fire 'distinguisher' (lol) company that used a huge pipe pushed in the fire and then one strong burst of air (or water) to blow out the fire...
Some amazing inventions surfaced in those times of need!
There is some footage of the machinery used after the war here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCi3g-u5qB4

and the collection page I've been waiting for, thanks! anyone knows a channel I can insert into Miro to impress my significant other?

(technical offtopik: will you have OpenID enabled some time?)