| Firefighting Foam Operations was on this week’s schedule.
Water alone is not effective for extinguishing fires involving flammable liquids, as just water will splash the ignited liquid, and potentially spread the fire. Mixing water with a foam concentrate, creates a blanket over flammable liquids, smothering & extinguishing flames; as well and suppressing vapors, preventing ignition.
Using a special appliance, called a foam eductor, and a special aerating nozzle, finished foam is produced by mixing the foam concentrate with water. We are able to select the percentage of foam mixed with water, increasing the density of the blanket.
For training purposes, we use a biodegradable soap as our foam concentrate, as conventional foam concentrate contains chemicals that are not recommended for long term use, and should only be used for practical, real world applications. |
