West Metro Fire Rescue: Firefighting with foam

[@bibuldigital3371]

Nice from 🇮🇳India

[@casonedwards5986]

Nice vid fellas

[@alfe1402]

When you have 1000 gallons water and 30 gallons foam in the truck, means you mix those 30 gallons foam with the 1000 gallons water??? You only have 30 gallons of foam to fight the fire???

[@WestMetroFire]

You can think of firefighting foam like dish soap in a sink or bubbles in a bath. You add a small amount of soap to the sink (or bath) and get a lot of soap foam or bubbles. In firefighting, we combine foam with water to reduce the surface tension of water, allowing it to better penetrate burning fuels faster and more efficiently. It effectively makes water “wetter.” A smaller concentration (like .5-1% foam to water) is what we typically use in wildland fires, the foam solution reduces surface tension of the water to better penetrate. At a higher level of concentration (like 3%)- it’s more like bubbles in a bubble bath and smothers the oxygen as well as reduces surface tension. That’s what we would use on vehicle or hazmat fires- like you see in this video.

[@lostinthesauce8345]

So this stuff is crazy toxic right? Brave guys hope they are safe

[@WestMetroFire]

The foam that was used in training is not the same foam used on an actual incident. On a real incident, we use Class A foam which does NOT contain PFAs (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances)- what you're likely referring to. Firefighters as a whole do have a nine percent higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14 percent higher risk of dying from cancer than the general U.S. population, according to research by the CDC/National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH). Firefighters are exposed to carcinogens in many ways: carcinogens arising from combustion, incidental to structural firefighting or arising from work as firefighter (for example, diesel exhaust).

[@lostinthesauce8345]

@@WestMetroFire wow thanks for the info

[@ps3master72]

​@@WestMetroFire You guys are so brave for exposing yourself to fire, live wires and carcinogens to help people put out fires and save their lives! ❤ Thank you!

[@Muonium1]

@@WestMetroFire what is the purpose of using a different foam for training if the one used in real incidents is also non-toxic and safe?

[@rzrxox]

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