August 2007

Firefighting Field Notes

by Dominic Colletti

Flammable Liquids Fires Need Lots Of Class B Foam

Large-scale flammable liquid spill fires are low-frequency events, but they do happen and in virtually any jurisdiction. While spill fires can vary widely in size and scope, if one happened in the wrong place at the wrong time, it could be rigorously challenging to control and suppress, causing loss of life and extensive property damage.

You might say the odds are long that a significant flammable liquid spill fire will happen in your district. Whether that’s true or not, if your town has just one automobile filling station and gasoline is trucked in by bulk tanker, it could happen, and you need to be prepared.

Most fire officers place high-volume Class B foam application equipment in the “nice to have” and not the “must have” category when reviewing competing priorities found on their apparatus needs list.

While large-scale flammable liquid spill fires occur infrequently in most communities, the issue remains, when an incident does happen, you really need high-volume Class B foam capability. One of the major causes of failure to control a flammable liquid fire is inadequate foam solution application rate.

Class B foam application rates are expressed in gallons per minute of foam solution applied per square foot of surface area of flammable liquid spill fire. As a good practice, the appropriate application rate needs to be continuously applied, without interruption, for at least 15 minutes. So, when there is a need to put out a large-scale flammable liquid fire, a strategy that includes high-volume Class B foam hardware and adequate foam concentrate and water supply is required. These resources must be placed in service to deliver the required foam solution application rate – fast.

Pizzas In Cement Mixers

A well-known, now retired fire chief from the southwest had been known to say: “We are delivering pizzas in cement mixers.” This was in regard to the practicality of using full-size pumpers to deliver first responder emergency medical service (EMS), which comprised the majority of apparatus runs in his district.

That analogy may be a true. However, I say that it is also true that when you need to pour concrete, you need a cement mixer. Likewise, when you need to extinguish a large-scale flammable liquid fire, you need a strategy that includes a fire apparatus that supplies high-volume Class B foam application rates – immediately.

An incident that occurred in the winter of 2006 comes to mind. A tractor-trailer bulk tanker carrying gasoline lost control and overturned on a ramp leading to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. An Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) unit from an Air Force base was called to extinguish the fire. Responding from several turnpike exits away, the fire was extinguished after almost all of the gasoline burned off leaving a melted tanker shell on the roadway.

In the above instance, secondary damage was limited to the roadway surface and was an inconvenience to motorists. Now, think about the above scenario, but think about it in your town where people and property are at risk. If this scenario were to happen, what would the community expect the fire department to do?

Community Expectations

During my foam strategy and tactics seminars, I frequently ask fire officers that same question. Most answer by saying their community’s expectations are that the fire department is prepared for, and would be able to adequately handle, such an incident. Almost invariably, then answer is no when I ask if the department can, in fact, handle an incident like that. If your department falls into that same category, read on.

Obtaining what is needed in foam hardware, agent and training comes down to money. Since a large-scale flammable liquid fire is not the routine fire, most people in the community have little information about these incidents.

Presenting Your Case

The onus is on the department to educate the community about the risk of this type of hazard and the scope of apparatus and training needed for effective mitigation by the fire department.

The goal of doing this is to then place the onus on the community to make a decision to identify what level of response they expect from the fire department. If your community is represented by elected officials, the burden of funding new high-volume Class B foam apparatus is on your town’s governing board or council. Presenting your case for the funding of this apparatus is relatively simple in concept. It involves placing the people holding the purse strings on notice of the following:

There are big tractor-trailers carrying thousands of gallons of gasoline traveling from the big road outside through the little roads into the center of town. The gasoline is then dumped into an underground tank at the filling station.

Should one of these tractor trailers become involved in a roadway accident driving down main street, civilian injury, property damage and death can occur.

If the fire department, as equipped, is not capable of handling this type of incident, high-volume foam application apparatus, foam concentrate supplies and specialized firefighter training are required.

Undoubtedly, questions will arise. Be prepared for town officials to ask about the local airport and its equipment. They’ll wonder why the airport’s ARFF vehicle can’t be used for that type of response. Be prepared to explain that, unless the airport or other facility with high-volume foam application equipment is located only a few minutes away, significant death and destruction can occur by the time the foam equipped pumper arrives at the fire scene. There is a need for immediate fire suppression to maximize life safety and reduce property damage. Time is the enemy.

Fire Mitigation Choices

During the review, explain the existing flammable liquid fire mitigation choices available to the financial decision makers and the ramifications of the use of each choice.

Some communities have a Class B foam bank or foam task force. Part of your risk assessment needs to be, if you are fortunate enough to have a foam bank or task force locally or in the next county, how much time will it take to deploy this resource in your district? If they take a significant amount of time to deploy, they might be providing a false sense of readiness for the community.

Clearly state the goal – the fire department is asking for new high-volume Class B foam equipment with the objective of raising the level of fire suppression service available to the community.

Sure, there are a number of existing alternatives available, but some are not effective or do not make much sense at all. Place the financial decision makers – the elected officials who have a fiduciary responsibility to the community – on notice, that the fire department does not have the capability to appropriately handle this type of incident, and that is why you are making this prudent request.

Make the point that they, as the representatives of the community, are responsible for setting the appropriate level of service by the fire department – not the fire department or the fire chief. The fire department is in business to deliver fire and rescue service, but the financial decision makers (elected by the townsfolk) have the responsibility for setting the level of fire and rescue service provided by the fire department.

Your job is to present the town council with the facts and an appropriate response plan for this type of fire and rescue risk. The elected officials own the decision regarding the purchase of new apparatus after analyzing cost/benefits. The decision is theirs. As the old Burger King slogan says: “Have it your way.”

Once the elected officials evaluate the risk and cost/benefits of new apparatus, the best that can happen is that your request leads to the funding of a new high-volume Class B foam-equipped fire apparatus and specialized firefighter training.

The worst that can happen is that they turn you down, and things remain the same. Nevertheless, you have done the right thing by placing the community on notice that your department’s capabilities for fighting large-scale flammable liquid fires is probably not what they had thought. That revelation can reset the community’s expectation levels regarding the level of service your department is able to provide with its existing resources.

The Coram Fire Department, located on Long Island, N.Y., is one of a number of departments that have invested in a high-volume Class B foam application capability to protect its community. Its apparatus is a good example of a foam pumper design that provides excellent initial response capability to large flammable liquid spill fires.

Coram’s unit, Engine 5-6-11 is a 2001 Saulsbury on a Spartan Gladiator chassis powered by a 430 hp Detroit Diesel engine. It is equipped with a Hale Qmax 2,000 single-stage fire pump and a Williams Hot Shot balanced-pressure foam system, featuring a 250 gpm rotary gear foam concentrate pump. The booster tank holds 1,300 gallons of water and has dual integral foam concentrate reservoirs – a 500-gallon tank holding Class B Alcohol Resistant foam and a 200-gallon tank holding Class A foam.

The rear hose bed holds 1,500 feet of 5-inch supply hose and 750 feet of 3-inch hose. The 3-inch hose is put to work to deploy dual Task Force Tips BlitzFire portable monitors. This engine also has a complement of 2.5- and 1.75- inch attack hose. Besides deployment for flammable liquid hazards, this unit is also used as a second-due structural pumper out of Coram’s Station Number 3. The unit and its foam capability have been used for a number of flammable liquid and specialized ordinary combustible hazard responses since delivery.

Coram’s Engine 11 brags a tag line on the cab brow that says, “Somethin’ in the Water.” And there is little doubt about what that is – foam.

Outside the box thinking may be in order when looking at rationalizing flammable liquid fire response and foam application apparatus needs for your municipality. Never lose sight of the goal – being able to offer the community the protection they deserve and expect.

Editor’s Note: Dominic Colletti is the global foam systems product manager for Hale Products and the author of two books – “The Compressed Air Foam Systems Handbook” and “Class A Foam – Best Practice For Structure Firefighters.” Colletti is a former assistant fire chief in Royersford, Pa. and serves on the technical committee of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1500 Fire Department Occupation Safety and Health Program. He is an instructor specializing in CAFS implementation.

Coram’s top-mount pump operator’s panel is well laid out and gives firefighters control over the dual foam systems. The unit is equipped with a 500-gallon Class B alcohol resistant foam tank and a second tank holding 200 gallons of Class A foam.    (Fire Apparatus Photo by Dominic Colletti)

Coram Fire Department, Long Island, N.Y., has a high-volume foam unit, Engine 5-6-11, a 2001 Saulsbury on a Spartan Gladiator chassis powered by a 430 horsepower Detroit Diesel engine. It is equipped with a Hale Qmax 2,000 single-stage fire pump and a Williams Hot Shot balanced-pressure foam system featuring a 250 gpm rotary gear foam concentrate pump.    (Fire Apparatus Photo by Dominic Colletti)