High Expansion Foam

[Carl]

I am trying to gather some information High Expansion Foam. I could do with finding out the following:-

1. Does your service still carry High Ex Foam
2. If so in what quantities?
3. When was the last time you used it and on what?

All answers and discussion much appreciated.

[Becile]

1/ no

2/na

3/ no records from the last 20 years of it ever being used operationally in our county.

We removed it from service approximately 10 years ago from memory

Believe we can still request it (hx capability) from either 

a/ Angus (foam supplier )b/LFB 

Our most credible risk for foam strategy is based on a 36,000l fuel tanker crash. Cafs appliances and bulk foam can cope with this.(Fuel farm is covered by their own initial attack under COMAH regs)

[Jet]

First and last time I used it was in the tower at Southwark on my recruits course. Never again 😂

[OscarTango]

No longer in Surrey as Becile says but we have a specialist foam unit in Kent that has a Medium and High Ex foam capability, mainly for the refinery risks on the Isle of Grain. It can carry 5000 litres bulk concentrate but cant find out what quantities of High Ex concentrate there are.

Looking at incident record searches it doesn't look like High Ex has actually been used operationally within the last 8 years.

[Messyshaw]

Never used it in anger, but did go to a 6 pump job where an automatic hi ex foam installation filled a basement by mistake and BA was required to search for the non existent fire.

That was fun!!

Does that count?

[TandA]

Seen it used once, about 10 years ago, to extinguish a deep-seated fire in a rubbish filled confined space void running beneath a very large derelict building (no way were we committing crews and it would have burned for weeks requiring a presence for all that time on safety grounds).   I am not aware of it being used since.

[Firestorm]

1. Yes

2. 3x1000 lt IBC, delivered to the fireground on a bulk foam unit.

3. Used during the riots of 2011 in Footlocker, Brixton.

I was at a bulk media station.

[BurtMacklin]

Best drill at STC, complete sensory deprivation, madness!

[Jet]

Made for good squad photos though!

[Luminoki]

Got it in West Mids. I know its on a pod at Perry Barr station. My gaffer cant remember if its ever been used in anger though

[Matt]

Humberside have a number of sleds/Pod's with IBC's on not sure on quantity but is due to the refineries and nearby chemical industry along the Humber Bank.  Last used, they have never been mobilised since they were bought a couple of years ago, last large deployment of foam would of been back in 2003 when resources were mobilised from Defence or the oil refinery to a chemical factory MP25.

Lincolnshire have no large quantities on pods/IBCs, Humberside are nearest resource and are actually closer to the only risk I am aware of that would need such quantities and that is an out post for the refineries above.

[Keith]

Just  curious are we all talking about hi ex foam or foam in general? Whilst I don't know the specifics of the risks that have been mentioned, the normal response to a bulk oil storage fire would be extremely large quantities of LX foam, usually FP70.

[Becile]

@Keith I was starting to wonder as well...hx generally requires a HX generator..usually a petrol or more generally a water driven turbine and occasionally a delivery sock..think we're getting a bit confused.

[Carl]

On 05/02/2019 at 13:29, Carl said:

I am trying to gather some information High Expansion Foam

Im not getting confused.  

[Keith]

You may not be getting confused, but I don't think you're getting much information on hi ex foam. Better give you some.

Only hi ex we carry is a small quantity of 100 l on our foam pod, together with a Turbex water driven generator. In comparison the pod also carries 6000 l of FP70 and all associated equipment. With the introduction of Cafs pumps we decided to stop purchasing any further hi ex, using the Cafs instead, with a small number of appliances carrying an adaptor which can convert a PPV fan into a hi ex generator.

Can't think of any incidents when hi ex has been used.

[Carl]

Its almost like I am canvassing to see if we need to keep our Hi Ex Foam 🤫

[Dyson]

We don't have it, although pretty sure neighbouring Brigades do so I guess that's the plan if its ever required. 

The basement jobs that I know we've had recently have been extinguished in the normal way

This has made me think, I'm gonna look into it