A couple months ago, I had breakfast with Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Raymond Orozco Jr. Discussion soon turned to Orozco’s efforts to upgrade Chicago’s turnout gear, train with positive-pressure ventilation and test Class A foam for fighting residential fires.

Orozco said that he wanted hard statistics to support the use of foam, so the department was working with Underwriters Laboratories in Northbrook, Ill., to test and compare the effectiveness of untreated water versus Class A foam in suppressing residential fires. He promised to share the test results, and as he predicted, foam did beat water.

A video recording of the UL tests shows two identically furnished bedrooms: The first bedroom was suppressed with water only, and the second was suppressed with water mixed with 0.5% foam concentrate. Each bedroom was allowed to reach flashover before the fire was extinguished. The bedroom extinguished with water quickly re-ignited, while the foamed room did not. The tests also proved that heat was diminished much more quickly using the foam-water mixture.

I recently met UL Vice President Chris Hasbrook at the Congressional Fire Services Institute Dinner, and he was extremely pleased and impressed with the data mined from the tests.

How do you endorse the use of new technology without sounding like a commercial? I’ve been a big proponent of using foam to fight fires since I witnessed tests several years ago. FIRE CHIEF magazine has included at least one feature article every year about the advantages that foam offers fire departments and their communities.

Next week at the Fire Department Instructors Conference in Indianapolis, FIRE CHIEF will be distributing a special Focus on Foam supplement, which also will appear in our May issue. I selected seven people to objectively explain the benefits of adding a little white stuff to your wet stuff. Stop by Booth #4500 and pick up a copy, or watch for your May issue of FIRE CHIEF.

Arguments against foam include cost, maintenance and the old "water is free." Well, there are all sorts of options when it comes to the cost of delivering foam, and the percentages of concentrate have been reduced from even five years ago. As for maintenance, newer technology and lower concentrate percentages make equipment easier to maintain. Water is free? Sure it is, so why do you buy coffee, soda or Gatorade?

Stop by FIRE CHIEF’s booth at FDIC next week!