Extinguishing Agent Application: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

1. Extinguishing Agent Application:The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2. To discuss the proper application and angle of extinguishing agents in a fuel spill or post crash aircraft incident. The passengers on the aircraft that are involved in a fire deserve the best chance for survival and it starts with us and how we apply our extinguishing agents. Objectives

3. Background • Much of this presentation is an effort on our part in the MWAA Safety and Training Division to show our personnel how to better apply extinguishing agents with the mass application appliances we possess. • Much of this is now derived from the differences in generation of mass application appliances– traditional turrets vs. low attack nozzles.

4. Background

5. History • Many of us were taught in order to effectively apply extinguishing agent on a post crash fire we had to use the roof turret on high flow to darken down the fire. • This of course made sense because we wanted to knock down the fire quickly so passengers could escape to safety.

6. History What we are trying to fix:

7. History What we are trying to fix:

8. IFSTA 5th Edition refers to four different application techniques: Roll-on method Bank-down method Rainfall method Base of the fire method All of these in some form or fashion have their place in ARFF world– we just need to pick the method which is appropriate to use and when. Application Techniques

9. Our biggest priorities when considering how and where to apply agent are: Evacuation path Cooling the fuselage to allow the best chance for passengers who have not evacuated or if an evacuation was not ordered Priorities

10. If an evacuation is underway, the ARFF Units must position in a fashion where the best tactical advantage can be made while accomplishing both priorities– establishing or protecting the evacuation path and cooling the fuselage. Also taken into account is weather and wind- understanding where our turrets can reach and where the pattern will be dispersed is vital. Occasionally, we do not have a choice if the evacuation is underway when we arrive. Priorities

11. The success or failure of our mission is largely dependent on how we apply the extinguishing agent but also our agent management. Having turrets quickly apply the agent for knock down/cool down gives the victims the best chance for survival– but we also want to have some agent left over in the event of re-ignition. Application

12. Initial application of agent suggests that applying in a rain drop method allowed for the agent to fall down onto the burning product and suppress the fire. This attack method wastes agent by allowing it to burn up in the thermal column and has no direct benefit to the fire attack– it should only be used for protection of crews and evacuees. Roughly 25% of the agent is burned up in the thermal column. Application

13. The turret operator and driver (if you have two) need to size up the situation and consider a zero degree (base of the fire method) application to darken down the fire. Zero degree application needs to be taken into account when: Protecting fleeing passengers- not to knock them down which causes more problems Pushing the fire and/or fuel to other parts of the scene Potential problems for our rescue personnel or dueling streams from other ARFF apparatus. Application

14. Through our training, we have been taught that mass application from the roof turret is the most effective way to extinguish a fuel or aircraft fire– this is still true but other advancements allow us to be flexible. Bumper turrets on the T-3000’s allow us to apply an almost master-stream quantity of agent to the fire with a far more precision and a higher success rate. Also allows for increased visibility and conserves our agent supply. Application

15. T-3000 Turrets Bumper Turret Roof Turret Application

22. Low attack nozzles give us the ability to apply a 1200/600 GPM to the fire, again with better visibility and better application rates (low attack versus high attack) and patterns. HRET allows for the ability to provide an elevated waterway or low angle attack through 1000/500 GPM with improved visibility and more direct attack. Understanding the differences between the LAN/HRET versus the traditional turrets. Application

23. Striker Turrets Low Attack Turret Roof Turret Application

29. HRET Turret Application

33. Agent management is vitally important– if we waste it we may not have it when it really counts. Driver/Operators and Officers need to be able to apply agent appropriately and effectively but also mindful of agent management. Agent should be applied in short bursts to gauge the effectiveness of the application. This is where weather and wind come into play but can’t always be helped. Hydrochem application Application

34. Application

35. Research • AFRL/FAA at Tyndall AFB • Research conducted by the AFRL and FAA shows a dramatic reduction in extinguishment time and improvement in conservation of agent by using a low attack appliance.

36. Training

37. Questions?