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Foam fills Fairchild hangar

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Mackenzie Richardson
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  The 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron completed the final of four tests of the maintenance hangar's foam suppression system Oct. 1, ensuring Fairchild's facilities, personnel and equipment are safe and secure in the event of a fire.

Fairchild's engineers, local contractors, emergency responders and maintainers initiated the test to ensure the foam suppression system would activate and could meet the necessary requirements. Col. Brian McDaniel, 92nd Air Refueling Wing commander, initiated the final test by pulling the emergency handle.

The foam is known as Ansul High Expansion Concentrate. When mixed with water, the solution becomes 2 percent foam and 98 percent water. In the event of a fire, the system can be shut off by emergency responders as soon as the emergency is under control.

The foam suppression system is capable of producing 238,000 cubic feet of foam concentrate per minute. In the test, the system ran for approximately two-and-a-half minutes, and produced over six feet of foam, covering the 68,000 square foot floor of hangar number one. If not stopped, the system would run for approximately 12 minutes before becoming empty and result in 20 feet of foam in the hangar.

The Ansul High Expansion Concentrate used in the test is very similar to dish soap, which settles over time. The foam was allowed to settle over the weekend which resulted in puddles and very little foam solution left after the weekend. In order to comply with environmental regulations, the remaining foam solution is collected and transported to an approved off-site disposal facility.