How Much Foam?

[stone35]

I am getting ready to purchase foam for our department and I need a seasoned airplane firefighter to give me an estimate as to how much foam it takes to knock down a small plane fire? When I say small plane I am guaging between 4 to 20 passenger planes. They may be either 100octane or jet fuel planes.

Thanks in advance,



------------------
Stone35

[K A]

How about enough to treat the water tank of the responding units. Add to that a clip on foam tube so you can make low expansion and medium expansion foam. A KK and TFT nozzles offer these tips.

I'd suggest 1% AFFF. You'll need one gallon for every 100 gallons of weater on your rig. A 1000 gallon tank needs 10 gallons. If you get a bad fire dump the concentrate in the tank and use whatever discharges you want to use from the deck gun to the booster. If you have a small fire or spill use an eductor.

[Ledbelly]

Stone, if you can catch an ARFF or (Heaven Forbid! http://www.firehouse.com/interactive/boards/smile.gif) FAA guy near you, get 'em to check my math...even though I did it twice and came up the same.
FAA figures foam quantities by aircraft size (length and width) and airport index; from aircraft size you get the practical critical area...each index has a percentage factor. Using rough figures (a rounded guesstimate) I came up with 375 to 450g of AFFF.
I tried to keep all that legalese simplified, if you want the formulas email me and I'll gladly send 'em to ya. (You might get a closer guess than mine)
BTW: Where you at? Saw the tva in your email address...does that mean TN?

[K A]

A 737 according to FAA needs 132, 66 or 33 gallons of concentrate. It also needs 2200 gallons of water

That is not a 20 to 40 passenger plane.

If you are not packing the water to use the foam it won't matter how much foam you carry.

Two pumpers with 500 gallon tanks and 5 gallons each of 1% AFFF or two pumpers with 750 tanks nd 7.5 gallons each of 1% foam, or two 1000 gallon water tanks and 10 gallons of 1% foam will more than handle the events you face.

You'll need to solve water supply as well. Oh, by the way a 737 burned once killing 1/2 on board and the ARFF rigs were sitting there on the taxiway with 11,000 galons of foam and water solution when the palne came to a stop and ran out of agent and the plane continued to burn.

[Ledbelly]

Good thing I decided to check back...KA caught me. Or the legalese in the formulas did...that was 375 to 450g of "Foam Solution". Work that down to 25-30g of Foam. (for 6%)
Hey...I shouldn't have stayed up so late http://www.firehouse.com/interactive/boards/wink.gif

[stone35]

FYI, we pack in our own water, and we are pretty well versed at doing it. At any give moment we carry on our pumper 1000 gal of water, and have an immediate hook-up of 5000 gal of water (water shuttle trucks).

Thank you all for your replies.



------------------
Stone35

[K A]

<<we carry on our pumper 1000 gal of water, and have an immediate hook-up of 5000 gal of water>>

Sounds like 60 gallons of 1% AFFF, a pair of clip on foam tips, and an eductor will give you more capability than may airport crash stations