What do you get when you take a dash of political savvy, mix it with a pinch of labor union cooperation, add a bunch of customer service and toss in a heap of requisite training? In the case of the Fort Worth (Texas) Fire Department, success in bringing new fire suppression technology into day-to-day operations.

You may think this is no great feat, but history tells us it really is a major accomplishment. It's difficult enough to integrate a new way of doing business into a small fire department, but changing the way a large municipal department does its job can be like making a U-turn with a freight train.

Remember the advent of positive-pressure ventilation more than 20 years ago? Its effectiveness has been proven time and time again, but there are those traditionalists who still prefer to see firefighters in a position of unnecessary danger performing rooftop ventilation in situations where PPV would be more than adequate.

While there are certainly some members of the Fort Worth Fire Department who find it difficult to embrace change, it appears that their acceptance of compressed-air foam systems is imminent. A multifaceted approach was necessary to bring about this situation.

The process began five years ago, when then-Chief Larry McMillan and his staff, including Local 440 President Jim Tate, began looking for ways to improve the city's ISO rating. In their research, they found that one of the most cost-efficient ways to do this in Texas is by integrating compressed-air foam into fire suppression operations. Specifically, they could gain 1.5 points if they could provide at least one CAFS-equipped apparatus on every structure fire. The added points would improve the ISO rating from 3 to 2, thus reducing insurance premiums for Fort Worth property owners.

Faced with the decision of how to implement the project, they considered retrofitting 20 existing pumpers, enough to gain the ISO points needed. After weighing the benefits of waiting to purchase the CAFS on new apparatus under their existing replacement plan, the decision was made against retrofitting.

Next, the city fathers needed to buy into the program. McMillan convinced them of the benefits to their customers — the good citizens of Fort Worth — and the decision was made to fund the CAFS with municipal bonds. The CAFS were added to other capital improvements for the fire department, including new fire stations and exhaust-extraction systems, and placed on the ballot as Proposition 4. Current Chief Charles Gaines held meetings with citizens groups, discussing the benefits of CAFS and the other items to be financed with the bond issue.

The bond election was held and history was made. Never before in Fort Worth had a bond proposal passed by such a high margin, 80%.

Environment of change

The Fort Worth Fire Department serves a population of 618,622 over 313 square miles. The 803 sworn and 48 civilian personnel staff 35 engine companies, 10 quint companies, four truck companies, three rescues, and two light and air units in six battalions with 38 stations. Last year they responded to 71,540 calls: 41,620 EMS, 2,931 fire (748 were structure fires) and 895 hazmat.

In April, the Fort Worth Fire Department resumed constant staffing of four people on all units. Like many cities across the country, they had cut back to three people on the majority of units during the 1980s economic downturn. It has been a slow process getting back to “full” staffing.

What may be a surprise is that Fort Worth's mayor, council and city management had made it a priority to get staffing back up to four. One of their seven strategic goals is to make Fort Worth one of the safest major cities in the United States. The upgrade to four-person companies also was part of a compromise on the city's behalf in gaining labor's support for the CAFS program. It's ironic that in so many fire departments, labor representatives are worried that implementing more efficient fire suppression will result in reduced staffing. In this case, it's encouraging to see that the opposite occurred.

The Fort Worth Fire Department currently has automatic proportioning systems on half of its pumper fleet. Apparatus officer Capt. Homer Robertson notes that having Class A foam on so many engines is making the transition to CAFS much easier, with more and more firefighters using nozzle-aspirated foam on initial attack.

“We are improving each and every day,” says Robertson. “We've had foam delivery systems for years, but they were too difficult to operate. With the FoamPro systems we have now, it's much easier for the engineers to use.”

New pumpers

Fort Worth recently took delivery of three new 1,500gpm Rosenbauer America CAFS pumpers mounted on Spartan custom chassis. Four more are on order with delivery scheduled for late this year.

The design of Fort Worth pumpers has evolved over the past several years. Pumps are rear-mounted in European-style pump compartments: All of the plumbing and components are exposed when the right and left rear compartment doors are open.

“We now have 18 rear-mount pumpers in the fleet and four more on order. We looked at simplifying maintenance as well as operations, which [the European style] has,” says Robertson. “It facilitates maintenance by making everything more accessible to our technicians. The pump is readily accessible for service. The valves are all at the discharge end and are easily accessed for repair or rebuild. The hand-wheel and swing-type valve controls are simple to operate and maintain. We get more compartment space, which is always in short supply.”

He says that the engineers love the layout because they have better visibility of incoming and outgoing hose lines, and the user feedback doesn't stop there.

“Each time we purchase new trucks, we gather input from the troops and we look for ways where we can improve the safety and usefulness of the next generation of apparatus,” Robertson says. “This work never stops. The new trucks have quite a few changes from the last generation, like the combination of Jacobs Brakes and transmission retarders to improve brake life. By far, CAFS is the biggest change we've undergone.”

The CAFS specified by the department are Waterous Eclipse ES models, which combine a midship-mounted split-shaft pump transmission with an integrated rotary screw air compressor and rear-mounted S100 end suction water pump. FoamPro 2002 foam proportioners round out the system. The CAF discharges are a front-bumper trash line and two 3-inch crosslays under the hosebed equipped with a gated wye, booster reel and deck gun. A large-diameter compressed-air discharge is supplied on each new truck to operate pneumatic rescue tools.

“We have been using Waterous S100 pumps and FoamPro proportioners successfully and wanted to continue to use those components,” says Robertson. “The educational element … was also a large part of the decision, since this will be our first experience with CAFS. We also spoke to other fire departments using CAFS for their input.”

The pumpers are equipped with a full array of firefighting and rescue equipment. To augment the CAF systems, the new pumpers will have three-piece break-apart handline nozzles composed of 1⅜-inch shutoffs, 1-inch smooth bore intermediary slug tips and adjustable fog tips. Each engine also will be supplied with a personal monitor with stacked smooth-bore tips for situations where rapid deployment and higher flows are needed.

Essential education

It's important that a distinction is made between operational instruction and training. Training implies that students are certified or brought up to a certain competency level in the operation and use of the system to fight fire. The CAFS manufacturer should provide instruction to the end users on how the system works and how to operate and maintain it, but the fire department should provide tactical training.

Training in all aspects of the job is the key to every firefighter's and fire department's success. Firefighters need to understand how a compressed-air foam system works and how to operate it to its potential. Not only is there a lack of knowledge of CAFS in the fire service, there are misconceptions and misinformation. The resulting dim view of the technology leads to poor decisions when using existing CAF systems or purchasing new apparatus.

Waterous/Pneumax is committed to foam and CAFS education, as evidenced by the instructional program offered. Instructors are career firefighters, CAFS users and fire department trainers. In addition to an instruction program manager and an instructor coordinator, there are eight instructors currently on staff with more than 90 years of combined experience using CAFS and many more years of diverse firefighting experience. Whatever the customer's challenge, there's an instructor with similar experiences to draw from.

The instructional program is designed to provide complete basic operational instruction. The program is divided into four separate classroom presentations:

• Class A foam properties,
• Safety and environment,
• Aspirating nozzles and
• Compressed-air foam systems.

All four components are important to provide a solid foundation, but the starting level and depth of each depends on the fire department's foam experience and equipment. Departments with Class A foam experience tend to have an advantage when implementing CAFS over those who are taking the quantum leap from plain water to CAFS.

Waterous/Pneumax includes up to three days of on-site instruction with all Eclipse and Platinum series CAFS. This instruction also is an option with other CAFS built by the company. A small volunteer fire department with a few members may only require one or two days of instruction, while a career department with three shifts would need a day of instruction for each shift.

A standard instructional session includes about four hours of classroom time and up to four hours of hands-on time, depending on how many personnel are being taught and their foam experience. Hands-on instruction includes practicing CAFS operation in all modes by all who may use the system. It also includes hoseline operation instruction for all personnel. A written test is administered, and a practical evaluation is usually incorporated into the hands-on session.

Fire departments also are encouraged to arrange live-fire training while the instructor is on-site. The instructor will see that the CAFS is operated correctly and safely during fire evolutions, which are organized and controlled by the fire department. Live-fire operations tie together the didactic and hands-on instruction and allow firefighters to see firsthand how to use CAFS most effectively.

While the standard program works well for most small to medium fire departments, larger departments or those with special requirements may require a customized program. For example, a department as large as Fort Worth would most likely opt to select a core group of trainers to receive the initial instruction. Those trainers would then train the line personnel. Additionally, specific classes may be provided for other groups in the department, such as a class for chief officers on how and where to use compressed-air foam on the fireground or a class for shop technicians in the service and maintenance of CAFS.

Chief officers' instruction

The initial class at Fort Worth consisted of three days of instruction — one for each shift — for battalion chiefs and higher. The training started at this level to encourage buy-in of CAFS concepts and use so chiefs can effectively lead the department through implementation. The classes were completely didactic, as none of the new apparatus with CAFS had been delivered. Each day's class lasted about three hours.

Upon completion of the instruction, the students were able to address basic foam properties, safety and environmental considerations, and CAFS operation and use. Specifically, they could:

• Explain how surfactants increase water's effectiveness.
• Explain the differences in foam concentrate types.
• Name the sides of the foam tetrahedron.
• Identify the four types of finished foam.
• List at least four safety precautions to take when using Class A foam.
• Describe proper procedures to provide aquatic protection when using Class A foam.
• Describe environmental effects of Class A foam.
• Understand how Class A foam influences critical application rate.
• Identify the three pumps and their purposes in a CAFS.
• Describe ways to use CAFS on the fireground.

The first day of class included 12 students, all battalion chiefs. The second day's class has 10 battalion chiefs and two captains assigned to training. On the third day there were 10 battalion chiefs, two deputy chiefs and the department's public information officer. The PIO's attendance was important, as it allowed him both to deliver the proper information within the fire department and to educate the public on why the fire department uses foam.

A special class was held for seven fire investigators to give them a better understanding of how foam works and how it can make their job easier. It also cleared up several misconceptions concerning foam hindering arson investigation. By giving the investigators the correct information, their support of the new CAFS program was strengthened.

At the time of this writing, the selection of the 25- to 30-member core trainer group was under way. This class will be three to four days long, will be very comprehensive in nature, and will include both didactic and hands-on activities. Live-fire operations will be included as part of this instruction. Waterous/Pneumax instructors will help develop the training program for line personnel as well as provide support as fire department trainers begin to deliver the curriculum.

All engine and quint companies will receive a class in the use of Class A foam, which should serve as a review to most because half of Fort Worth's apparatus are already equipped with foam-proportioning systems. Engine companies receiving the new CAFS engines then will receive CAFS-specific instruction. Operations and guidelines for the use of CAFS will be integrated into Fort Worth Fire Department's standard operating procedures in a combined effort of the training staff, operations staff and the apparatus section.

After participating in the chief officer instruction, Training Bttn. Chief Tim Hatch said, “We are enthusiastic about putting our new CAFS engines in service. We think that they will have a positive impact on the way we provide service to our citizens. The quick knockdown and limited water damage associated with CAFS is directly in line with every firefighter's top three priorities: life safety, incident stabilization and property conservation.

“In order to implement CAFS, fire service managers must take a very cooperative approach and include participation from-support services, educational services, operations and-the CAFS manufacturer. The Fort Worth Fire Department is very pleased with the proactive approach … in providing training to our department. Our process started with command staff officers and the PIO. It continued with a group of core training officers and ultimately will include every member of the department.”

As apparatus officer, Robertson is concerned about the constant readiness of his fleet, including the maintenance of the new pumpers.“We are providing our apparatus technicians with a maintenance, repair and diagnostics class early on, enabling them to properly service the new CAFS,” says Robertson, adding that the manufacturer is providing instruction for the mechanics in-house, “which is very important to us.”

Robertson notes that engine crews will be expected to include the CAF system in their daily and weekly apparatus checks. Preventive maintenance will be done monthly by in-station service technicians.

Looking ahead

While a great deal of sweat has already been invested in the department's CAFS endeavor, the work will continue well into the foreseeable future.

“I think that FWFD has been known as an innovator in the fire service and not too resistant to change,” says Robertson. “Even with that in mind, this isn't going to be an easy process getting all of our people to buy in. Going to CAFS will take some time, as it is a huge change in the way we do our job.

“We have 750 line people who need not only training, but need to actually use it with success in day-to-day fire situations. We plan to integrate CAFS training into our recruit training program. This will make it second nature to them as they transition into the field. We foresee two recruit classes in the coming year, with 50 new firefighters coming on board who will all receive this training.”

As previously mentioned, the ISO requirement for CAFS credit in Texas is for the capability of providing a CAFS engine on every structure fire. This poses a challenge in the stationing and dispatching of apparatus. Fort Worth will have almost two-thirds of its front-line engines (20 out of 35) with CAFS capabilities. With GPS-based dispatching coming in three to five years, their CAFS engines will have a special designation to ensure that there's always a CAFS engine automatically dispatched on structure fires. Until then, it will be accomplished manually by dispatchers.

“We are trying to be leader in this area,” says Robertson. “Texas seems to be a good state for CAFS, and we hope other area fire departments will follow our lead.”

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Geary Roberts is the founder and president of Pneumax. After 15 years of experience as a career firefighter, engineer and captain in Glendale, Ariz., Roberts established Canyon State Emergency Products, an Arizona fire apparatus and equipment dealer, in 1989. Recognizing the potential of CAFS, he organized Pneumax in 1993, which was acquired by Waterous in 2000 and has grown to become the world's largest manufacturer of compressed-air foam systems.