A fire suppressant foam linked to the shutdown of two drinking water wells at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base injured a firefighter during a training incident and the Defense Department has launched an investigation to determine how widespread the problem is across the nation.
The firefighter, Michael R. Strouse, was injured when piping inside a fire cab ruptured and shot the chemical at high pressure into his eyes, he said.
"My face was chemically burned and my eyes were really blood shot and they were sore," Strouse said in an interview with this newspaper. "Then the next day I was actually taken off the job."
Strouse, 38, a veteran firefighter for more than a decade at Wright-Patterson, was reassigned to administrative duties. But his condition gradually worsened, he said. He's now been off work for more than three months.
The injury to Strouse comes as concerns over aqueous film forming foam, or AFFF, have soared in recent years.
AFFF has been used in training by the military since the 1970s and is considered more effective than water to extinguish petroleum-based fires.