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Issued: September 30, 2008 1. INTRODUCTION This report describes a Department of Homeland Security grant project conducted for the United States Fire Administration in accordance with the test methods described herein. The sole purpose of this project was to study the effects of special extinguishing agents on various burning fuel packages, applied with different methods as compared with water only. In addition, physical performance testing was conducted on the agents, and solutions made from the agents. The information developed from this testing was provided to the United States Fire Administration for their use in determining the effectiveness of the agents and application methods investigated. In no event shall UL be responsible to anyone for whatever use or nonuse is made of the information contained in this Report and in no event shall UL, its employees or its agents incur any obligations or liability for damages, including, but not limited to, consequential damage, arising out of or in connection with the use or inability to use the information contained in this report. Investigations normally conducted by UL involve Classification, Listing or Recognition and Follow-Up Services of proprietary products. However, UL does conduct investigations without Classification, Listing or Recognition in Follow-Up Service when a need for test data in the interest of public safety has been indicated. Such investigations do not result in specific conclusions, nor any form of Recognition, Listing or Classification of the products involved. It is on this basis that UL undertook the Special Services Investigation reported herein. The issuance of this Report in no way implies Listing, Classification or Recognition by UL and does not authorize the use of UL Listing, Classification or Recognition Marks or other reference to UL on or in connection with the product or system. 2. BACKGROUND As a result of the continued tragic loss of firefighters and civilians in fires, firefighters continue to seek and implement improvements in fire fighting equipment and tactics to increase firefighter safety. Specifically, many fire departments are considering the use of special extinguishment agents such as wetting agents and Class A foams to control residential fires with the goal of more quickly, effectively and safely extinguishing fires than with water alone. While some studies have been done, including those by the Los Angeles County Fire Department 1 and the USDA Forest Service 2 , empirical research to identify the effectiveness and safety of the use of these agents for residential structure fires is limited. The suppression effectiveness of these agents, as compared to water, has not been validated, as there is no standardized testing protocol. While 1 Chris Cavet, Fire Chief Magazine, “Bubbles Beat Water”, July 2001, http://firechief.com/mag/firefighting_bubbles_beat_water/ 2 Martin Pabich, William Carey, Report of the National Class A Foam Research Project Phase II – Strucural Fire Fighting, Project 94NK14167/NC987, Underwriters laboratories Inc. Northbrook, IL , November, 1004 Page 1 of 55
Issued: September 30, 2008 there are standards for wetting agents (NFPA 18) and Class A foams (NFPA 1150), these standards do not provide a test protocol for evaluating the suppression capabilities of these agents for content fires in structures. USFA fire statistics for 2005 report that more than 50% of firefighter fatalities occur from firefighter stress and overexertion. 3 Heat and smoke exposure are significant contributors to stress and overexertion. As a result, many fire departments are considering the use of special extinguishing agents such as wetting agents and Class A foams that have the potential to quickly and effectively extinguish fires than by using water alone. The consideration being that faster extinguishment can reduce the heat and smoke exposure to the fire fighter. Previous research conducted by NIST 4 showed that some water additives are able to extinguish fires more effectively for small quantities of individual fuels (e.g., wood, rubber tires). Previous research conducted by UL for the U.S. Department of the Army, the USDA Forest Service, and the National Fire Protection Research Foundation were inconclusive in assessing the effectiveness of Class A foams compared to water in suppression of structural fires. This project begins to fulfill the need to conduct research to develop empirical data in determining the effectiveness of water additives using fire fighting equipment and tactics (e.g., nozzle selection, water flow rates) as compared to water for full-scale structural fires. Currently, there are no performance test standards to establish performance requirements for these products as they relate to large scale structure fires. Thus, fire departments do not have an objective method to assess the selection of these agents for their use in fire fighting. This is significant as improper selection (where the agent may not perform as anticipated based on manufacturer claims) may increase the fire fighter’s exposure to heat and smoke hazards. The testing documented herein evaluates the performance and effectiveness of special extinguishing agents in firefighting of structural fires. The project evaluates the fire performance of various special agents including wetting agents and Class A foams and compares these with the performance of a baseline, traditional water application. The data collected and the video recordings from these tests have been used to design and construct an educational course using a stand-alone web-based training module approach that can be disseminated to fire services nationwide. A series of fully instrumented fire tests were conducted using a fuel package that has been designed to simulate a living area to evaluate the effectiveness of each extinguishing agent in controlling post flashover fires. Additionally, the temperature and smoke environment experienced by the firefighter was evaluated to determine safety conditions when special agents were used. Each of the agents were evaluated as applied through two different discharge patterns. 3 USFA [2006]. Firefighter Fatalities in the United States in 2005, Arlington, VA; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Fire Administration. FA-306/Jul 2006 4 Dan Madzrykowski, David Stroup, Demonstration of Biodegradable, Environmentally Safe, Non-Toxic, Fire Suppression Liquids, NISTIR 6191, National Institute of Standards and Technology, U. S. Department of Commerce, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899, July 1998. Page 2 of 55
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Appendix D - Fire Fighting Tactics
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Appendix E - Smoke Obscuration Data
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