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Class a Foam on Wildfires
Recently had a discussion at a meeting about using class a foam on grass/wilfires. I argued the point of using less water, preventing rekindle, use as fire break, etc. dept recently received truck for wildfires that is equiped with Class A foam. We were told not to use class a foam on grass fires despite my objections. any thoughts?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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We were told not to use class a foam on grass fires despite my objections. any thoughts?
Why wouldn't you? Seems like a no brainer to me, unless the dept is concerned about the cost of replacing the foam after such fires and concerned foam would be out when there may be a structure fire.
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Permalink Reply by Don Catenacci on
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Class A foam on brush fires is a labor saver and a time saver. Add to that the almost complete elimination of rekindle and it is worth every penny.
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Permalink Reply by Firemedic Rob on
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Not sure who advised your Department not to use Class A foam, but under the context presented that is not sound advice.
There is still some debate over environmental concerns related to waterways and fish and the environmentally friendly foams, really that would be the only time a caution would be in place.
Class A is anotehr great tool to help us do the job more efficiently and as a result, safer.
Good luck with your battle, I truly hope it works out in your favour in the end.
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Permalink Reply by TheBull911 on
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We use Class A foam for grass/brush fires. It is a water saver, due to the fact that water is miles away in the rural areas. If you use Class A foam properly you can save minutes or even hours by applying it properly. Their are some area departments that don't use Class A foam because they have been told it will corrode the pump. If you take the time to flush your pump you will eliminate that problem. All our Engines are plumbed with Class A foam, and our new brush trucks are plumbed with Class A foam also.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Pingel on
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My department is a brush truck equipped with class A. I think there is a time and place to use it, but there is also a time a place when it is ridiculous to use it. For small grass/vegetation fires that can easily be handled with the resources on scene without the use of foam, don't use it. Foam cost money, and budgets are tight. If you estimate that the resources on scene cannot put the grass/vegetation fire out without the use of foam- then use it.
Any argument about increased maintenance costs to the pumps, or cost of the foam are moot---- we use every tool available to minimize damages to property, I dont want the property owner to unnecessarily have increased losses, and we will use every tool in our toolbox to meet that goal.
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Permalink Reply by ashfire on
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Closest thing I have seen that was used on brush fire was seeing a member of our dept jump up on the brush unit, open the tank fill and dump a bottle of dish soap in the water tank before it went out the door on a call.
On a dump fire in our first due another company came in and used Light Water on it. Most of it was tree stumps.
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Closest thing I have seen that was used on brush fire was seeing a member of our dept jump up on the brush unit, open the tank fill and dump a bottle of dish soap in the water tank before it went out the door on a call.
I would be cautios in advising such a move of batch mixing like that, especially with dish soap. Dish soap can be harsh on internal pump components etc and isn't formulated like class "A" foam.
Even with a foam injection system, the handlines etc need a thorough flushing. Batch mixing, even with class A foam may not be good for a pump and components and a thorough flush should be done afterwards. I would just be cautious about dumping dishsoap in a tank.
I have seen and heard of using dishsoap in portable pump/cans.
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Permalink Reply by Louis A. Coletti on
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The only arguement is the price. What better way to fight grass fires than using Class A foam. When the availibility of water is an issue then this is the solution. As we all know, Class A foam makes the water "wetter" and allows deeper penetration in the soil which equates to a lower percentage of rekindles.
Class A foam depletes the surface tension of water and facilitates penetration making water 5x wetter.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Mackie on
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That is an excellent point John. Earlier types of "water wetter" type agents were not exactly pump friendly, and while some thought was initially put into that, I am thinking that other components, such as nozzles, and valves might not be as compatible. O rings/gaskets, and grease used to lubricate the valves etc. breakdown faster, and have resulted in faster deterioration. Thoroughly flushing after use is quite important, if not critical ( if the unit sits for a long time in between runs). I know we used to batch mix, and found just refilling the tank was more of a chore. Also, in the older metal tanks, which most have gone the way of the dinosaur, would rust faster or develope small holes. Very excellent point. Of course now there is extra costs! FLUSH FLUSH FLUSH!
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Permalink Reply by Bob on
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Class A foam works very well on all vegetation fires.
My experience with Class a foam is that it works well on structure fires as well as vehicle fires.
All of our equipment is complemented with foam (engines, water tenders, and brush patrols)
Why would you not use foam on grass fires? natural vegetation is as class a as it gets?
Also, do you really send trucks to wildland fires? ;)
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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Class A foam is the best choice for direct attack on vegetation fires in most situations.
It penetrates gound fires much more quickly and effectively than plain water.
It does a better job of preventing rekindles.
The cost isn't much when compared to the cost of using more manpower for longer periods of time and the costs of operating the apparatus for longer periods of time using water for the attack.
It saves water.
It can be proportioned as medium-expansion foam that creates fire barricades easier and quicker than raking a line.
It can be applied to structures for exposure protection - for example, filling a house's gutters with foam helps prevent brand fires in leaf-filled gutters.
It increases firefighter safety by making providing more knockdown power for the same amount of water, and by stretching the water supply when remote from another source of water.
Medium expansion foam can also be used to fill up snags, speeding overhaul and reducing the amount of risk by reducing the amount of chainsaw work.
Class A foam is an excellent vegetation firefighting tool with many benefits.
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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Hopefully you can convince your superiors that your department will be less likely to be called back to a wildland fire scene if you use class A foam on heavy fuels (i.e. logs, stumps, etc.) near the perimeter of the burned area. I know it's expensive, but as somebody once said in a tv commercial, "Darn well worth it."
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