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Fairchild tests maintenance hangar's emergency foam system

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Benjamin W. Stratton
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  Maintainers, emergency responders and local contractors tested the installation's high expansion foam discharge in the repair aircraft maintenance hangar April 8 to ensure the safety and security of Fairchild personnel, equipment and facilities.

The test allowed the installation to assess whether the system was capable of meeting essential milestones required for full certification, including covering at least 90 percent of the aircraft's silhouette and covering the entire hangar floor with at least one meter of foam within four minutes.

In the video, the silhouette of the aircraft is depicted by black lines and orange candlestick cones in the center of the hangar.

Tests like these are important as aircraft hangars, by their nature, pose unique challenges for the fire protection engineer. The hangar has large, open floor areas with tall roof decks to house Fairchild's KC-135 Stratotanker. Large quantities of liquid jet fuel are present, and aircraft maintenance activities offer a variety of potential ignition sources.

According to 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron officials, the main fire threat is posed by a fuel spill finding an ignition source, leading to a challenging fire. A 50-foot diameter pool of burning jet fuel can produce a heat release rate of nearly 300 megawatts. A few hundred gallons of ignited fuel is enough to destroy just about any facility that is not properly protected.

Fortunately for Fairchild, this test proved the installation's primary maintenance hangar is ready for most situations.