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Fire Foam Technology

Fire foam technology has been developed to fight fires that are not fought as effectively using water. Fire foam technology comes in a variety of forms for various situations.

  1. Identification

    • Fire foam is a material that is used in firefighting to cool and put out fires.

    Benefits

    • Water is often used to put out fires in firefighting. However, water sometimes exacerbates the fire in certain cases, such as with oil fires.

    History

    • Firefighting foams started to be developed in the 1800s. The firefighting foam technology started as a compound of sodium bicarbonate and aluminum sulfate. Current fire foam is made of hydrocarbons and polar solvents to make them alcohol resistant.

    Types

    • Fire foams are used for one of two purposes: fighting wildfires and fighting chemical fires. Special foams are designed for each purpose. Firefighting foams are also synthetic, which work faster, or protein, which are biodegradable.

    Expansion

    • Fire foams are also low expansion or high expansion. Low-expansion foams are great for large areas, whereas high-expansion foams are useful in enclosed areas.

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