Delivery of the Month

KME-Good Intent Fire Company #1, Pottsville, PA, PRO rescue-pumper. Predator cab and chassis; seating for 10; Cummins ISX12 500-hp engine; Waterous CSX 1,500-gpm pump; polypropylene 500-gallon tank; 30-gallon foam cell; Advantus 6 Class A foam system; Will-Burt LED light tower; Onan 15-kW generator; TFT remote control deck gun. Dealer: Jason Witmier, KME, Nesquehoning, PA. (Photo by Dan Markiewicz.)

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Delivery of the Month

HME-Wakefield Fire Department, Sanbornville, NH, tanker-pumper. Spectr cab and chassis; Cummins ISX12 500-hp engine; 2,500-gallon polypropylene tank; 30-gallon foam cell; Hale Qmax 2,000-gpm pump; Fire Research TurboFoam Class A foam system. Dealer: Glenn Davis, Lakes Region Fire Apparatus, Inc., West Ossipee, NH.

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in the News

GLOBE MANUFACTURING COMPANY continued its partnership with the Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund at FDIC International 2015. With its supplier partner, 3M, Globe invited attendees to try its new G-XTREME® 3.0 turnout gear on the Globe Virtual Firefighter Athletic Circuit and committed to make a donation to the Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund in each firefighter's name. This year Globe had firefighters spin a wheel to determine the donation-$10, $20, $50, or $100. In total, Globe and 3M donated $28,080 to the Fund from the Globe Virtual Firefighter Athletic Circuit."We believe in the mission of the Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund and are delighted that we've helped them make a difference in the lives of firefighters, their families, and departments over the past year," says Rob Freese, senior vice president of marketing at Globe Manufacturing Company.

BULLEX and LION have announced three changes in their executive team. Ryan O'Donnell, co-founder and president, is transitioning into a strategy and business development role as Leon Timmermans assumes the role of division president and Craig DeVoe begins work as BullEx general manager. As a founder of BullEx and co-owner of Haagen, O'Donnell has spent the past 10 years establishing BullEx and HAAGEN as leaders in the marketplace and building a solid foundation for the business within the LION organization.

STREAMLIGHT®, INC., a provider of lighting for first responders, donated $30,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF), including $20,000 in proceeds from sales of the company's specially marked NFFF Red Nano Light® and Red Vantage® helmet light.

Streamlight earmarks $1 and $3, respectively, from the sale of each light for the NFFF. The company also contributed $10,000 for renewal of its "Bronze Helmet" NFFF sponsorship. Both donations will assist the nonprofit organization in commemorating the lives of firefighters who have died in the line of duty and supporting their families and coworkers.

E-ONE recently completed a customer satisfaction survey to not only obtain voice of the customer feedback on the company's products and services but to also raise funds for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF). "Customer feedback is integral to the goals of our organization, and surveys are one of many ways to obtain that voice of the customer. However, typically survey responses are significantly stronger when participants are incentivized, but that incentive only benefits one or a handful of participants," says Jay Johnson, vice president of sales and product management for E-ONE. "Because we wanted a strong response to our survey but also wanted an incentive that would benefit others, we decided to use the survey as an opportunity to raise money for a great organization in our industry, the NFFF."

SMEAL FIRE APPARATUS CO. and GIMAEX INTERNATIONAL have established a strategic teaming relationship to share aerial apparatus technologies and operating best practices. The relationship is intended to enhance both companies' product offerings in terms of safety, performance, and technology. In addition to the collaboration on technology and production, Gimaex's international distribution network will become involved in the sale of Smeal™ fire apparatus, with particular focus on expanding market penetration in South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Two years after consolidating all of its production, engineering, and customer facing groups

The Fire Apparatus Manufacturers' Association (FAMA) and its member companies stay on the forefront of fire suppression innovation.

GRADY NORTH

One such innovation is the use of compressed air foam systems (CAFS) in applications ranging from house fires to plane crashes. In this article, we will look at the use of CAFS in wildland firefighting.

About CAFS

CAFS have a long history as effective firefighting agents for wildland fires. The first use dates back to 1978 when the technology was introduced by the Texas Department of Forestry, known as the "Texas Snow Job." Within 10 years, U.S. federal fire agencies began using CAFS on wildland fires. Before we discuss CAFS on wildland apparatus, you must first understand what compressed air foam is and how it is generated.

For a discussion of wildland applications, I will limit the foam concentrate to the Class A type for use on ordinary combustibles but not hydrocarbon or metal fires. Other types of foam and firefighting agents have been successfully expanded with CAFS techniques but usually for more specific applications such as Class B foam for aviation firefighting. Adding Class A foam to water helps reduce surface tension so it will soak into combustibles instead of setting on the surface. It has been estimated that when combined as a solution, Class A foams are up to 20 times more effective than plain water alone.

CAFS take this a step further by tying up more water (up to 80 percent more) within bubble structures instead of droplets. The mixing of the air and foam is accomplished near the source of the discharge, creating discharge lines that are lightweight and consisting mostly of foam bubbles. Compressed air foam is the method whereby air is introduced into a foam solution by a mechanical means, generating a highly aspirated, high-energy foam product. There are two types of mechanisms used to create the compressed air. One is the use of stored air (high-pressure air cylinders) combined with a regulator to reduce air pressure at the injection point. These systems typically use a premixed solution of foam and water in a tank that can be pressurized. The stored-air cylinders provide air for both pressurizing the premix tank and injecting air downstream to create compressed air foam. This system has limitations in that once the air cylinders are empty, they must be replaced or refilled. However, stored-air systems have few moving parts and are very cost-effective.

The second and more common method of creating compressed air foam is with the use of an air compressor. Air compressors can be driven by the chassis power takeoff (PTO), by an auxiliary engine, or from the main pump gearbox. Air compressors have the advantage of a continuous source of air for extended firefighting operations. They have the disadvantage of more complexity and cost over a stored air system.

Wildland Fire Apparatus

Today wildland apparatus can be anything from a pickup truck with a flatbed to an urban interface custom pumper. A critical component of CAFS is the air source. Compressed air foam requires approximately 1 cubic foot of air for each gallon of foam liquid. If you are supplying a booster line or single attack line, your flow might be 60 to 95 gallons per minute (gpm). Thus, you might require a 90-cubic-foot-per-minute (cfm) air compressor. If you are supplying multiple attack lines and a bumper turret, your total flow might be over 200 gpm, requiring a 200-cfm air compressor. It is important to consider that compressed air foam expands the water flow. If you have a 10:1 expansion ratio, a 60-gpm liquid flow will result in 600 gpm of compressed air foam exiting the nozzle. You can expect a considerab