That was the headline in the Chicago Tribune the week after six people died from smoke inhalation in the Cook County Administration building in Chicago. They were discovered in a smoke-filled stairwell 10 floors above the fire.

While the investigation will go on for some time, one of the Chicago Fire Department's officers was said to have commented that this “fire had an attitude.” But don't all fires have an attitude? Is there anything more mercurial? That's what makes fire so mystifying; it's not predictable. Firefighters continue to die from a demon that has challenged them for years.

The wildfires out West had an attitude, too. Fanned by the Santa Ana winds, the flames screamed across the mountains and valleys, once again teaching us that Nature has the upper hand; it always has and always will. From devastation, lessons are learned. Unfortunately, we don't always take advantage of what we've been taught.

Since the mid-'90s, I've seen demonstrations and read statistics on the merits of Class A foam versus water, and I believe in its use. The benefits to victims of fires include less damage from water and smoke, and the safety benefits for firefighters include quicker knockdown and less exposure.

Shortly after the Chicago high-rise fire, I asked the readers of Command Post, our weekly e-newsletter, why foam isn't used to fight high-rise fires. Many sent interesting responses, but a few raised some hard questions.

Firefighter Rodger Ricciuti of the Mt. Lebanon (Pa.) Fire Department wrote that his department uses Class A foam on all first-run engines. Ricciuti wondered if foam could be introduced into building standpipes and sprinkler systems via the siamese to improve knockdown. Noting that over the years some models of sprinkler heads have failed to operate due to sticking O-ring seals, he asked, “Would Class A foam exacerbate this problem? Would it have an effect on seals used to join the sections of Victualic pipe used in standpipe systems? Would corrosion be an issue?”

I checked with some foam manufacturers for their opinions, which you can read at www.firechief.com in the Reader Response section.

Bill Ballantyne of Hypro said that one benefit of CAFS “is the reduced weight of the water column in standpipes, making it easier to pump to higher levels.” As for sprinkler heads, he said that “you do not want to go too dry or rich with the foam. The rising heat column from the fire can ‘blow’ the drier foam off to the side and the foam solution will not get to the seat of the fire. It is better to err on the wet or lean side.”

Geary Roberts of Pneumax mentioned that the use of foam on wildland fires was noticed by a Los Angeles Times reporter. It seems that the CAFS engines were much more effective working the Southern California fires. “As for the cost,” Roberts said, “doesn't it make economic sense to include a CAFS for about 15% of [the cost of] a new pumper, increasing its effectiveness as a fire suppression tool more than five times?”

It's funny how some technological advances can be embraced so quickly — cell phones, the Internet, laptop computers — while others are ignored. If fire departments were run as corporations, the most efficient way to fight fires and reduce costs would be mandated.

If we can't convince people, including the officials who paid $62 million to remodel the Cook County Administration building, of the importance of sprinklers, then the next best thing might be to focus on technology that protects firefighters from irresponsible people.

Over the years, Fire Chief has preached about the importance of using incident statistics to justify additional funding, staffing or equipment. The numbers prove that seatbelts save lives, no fire death has occurred with working sprinklers and foam knocks down fires in minutes rather than hours. Each of these would help prevent firefighter injuries and deaths.

Thirty years ago, there were no seatbelts, no residential sprinklers and no firefighting foam. How long will it be before every department gets the message? Another 30 years, or after a few deaths closer to home?