FIGHTING STRUCTURE FIRES WITH COMPRESSED AIR FOAM OR CAFS
The following is a progression of photos from a prescribed burn that took place in St. John's Michigan.
The equipment used consisted of a Ford F550 quick attack CAFS unit featuring an Odin CAFS system. The booster tank supply was 400 gallons and suppression crews deployed a single attack line of 1.75 inch hose totaling 200 feet in length.
The building is an abandon barn approximately 30 feet wide and 40 feet long consisting primarily of wood frame and wood shake shingles. This was the first introduction to CAFS for the fire department members and they were allowed time to become familiar with the system operation and the CAFS fire stream. There were a couple of "minor" evolutions in which hay bales and pallets were placed inside and allowed to progress to full involvement. Once the crews felt confident the building was allowed to progress to full involvement over a 6 minute period before suppression efforts began. The application rate was delivered at 100 PSI utilizing a flow rate of only 60 GPM/60 CFM CAFS solution metered at .3%. The photos include a time stamp in the lower right hand corner. Here are the results:
The fire was suppressed in under two minutes using less than 150 gallons of water and approximately one quart of foam solution! The expression on the firefighters face in the last photo says it all! CAFS is a powerful - "cool tool " !