Waterous CAFS Units Help Protect Australia’s Capital Territory.
AWaterous CAFSystems™ are helping Australia’s Capital Territory Fire Brigade (ACTFB) put the lights out on dangerous brushfires.
Made up of approximately 335 full time firefighters, the ACTFB protects the surrounding area of Australia’s capital city of Canberra. Known as the “bush capital”, Canberra’s suburbs are surrounded by densely vegetated forests and nature parks, which make for a very scenic cityscape. However, during the summer months, the climate in the region becomes extremely hot and dry—the perfect conditions for brushfires to start and spread. Regardless of how inviting these summer conditions may be, they can quickly turn the beautiful cityscape of Canberra into a potential danger zone for brush fires.
Firefighters who work at the ACTFB are all too familiar with these dangerous conditions and have learned to keep a watchful eye on the brush during the dry summer months.
“Summers are always busy for us,” says Paul Fixter, Station Officer and Senior CAFS Instructor for the ACTFB. “So when the season rolls around, we make sure we’re well prepared.”
Preparation in the ACTFB’s case, means knowing how to use the four Waterous CAFSystems™ equipped on their newly designed urban interface fire apparatus’. The Brigade features two large 8000 litre units and two smaller 2000 litre units, which work in tandem to primarily attack wildland fires and protect structures. “The CAFS technology we are using is highly advanced yet easy to use for a variety of applications,” says Fixter. “For example our Waterous pump is highly automated and features user friendly controls, which translates into more training time to hone tactics and strategies that help us defend homes and bring wildland fires under control rather than spending our time learning complicated equipment controls.”
The ACTFB’s CAFS units consist of two Waterous’ 8,000L large mid-ship mounted CAFS 500gpm/150cfm units, while the smaller trucks feature two 2000 litre CAFS units with 150gpm/50cfm Waterous pumps that are enclosed within the trucks. The units are all designed to pump and roll and feature large capacity monitors mounted on the rear platforms. The units also take crew safety into mind by incorporating emergency sprinkler systems, nomex curtains and additional warning features.
Using CAFS however was not an easy choice for the brigade. “CAFS systems mounted on large urban/rural fire appliances is relatively new to Australia,” says Fixter. “The idea to use CAFS was initially met with some hesitation because it was such a new technology, but we had a lot of help from the guys at Waterous. They worked closely with us to help with the initial training and operations of the pump. Now, through our Brigade CAFS Instructors and our new CAFS programs, all of our firefighters have at least a basic understanding of how CAFS works.”
In fact, nearly everyone in the ACTFB is trained in basic CAFS or Level I CAFS. “This includes CAFS fireground safety, basic pump operation, practical application methods and CAFS principles,” says Fixter. “We also have approximately 70 firefighters and 18 Station Officers (Captains) who are trained to become CAFS/Wildfire specialists or ACTFB Level II CAFS Operator.”
According to Fixter, these specialists are highly trained in CAFS operations, advanced wildfire behavior and property protection. “Our Level II CAFS Operators have to pass an intense five day training program which includes live fire fighting, emergency scenarios, wildfire strategies and tactics, as well as property triaging and protection from wildfire. Our Level II CAFS Operators are all full time Officers who have a minimum of four years experience in the Brigade.”
One of the main areas that CAFS Operators in the ACTFB focus on is in the area of property protection. In the ACTFB’s case, firefighters use the Waterous CAFSystems to pre-treat homes and gardens as soon as brushfires start.
The Level II operators use a two-prong attack in which they first send trucks out to the location of the brushfire and try to stop it with a direct attack. If the fire is to big for a direct attack, they send CAFS units into the suburbs and begin to pre-treat homes before the fire reaches the residential areas. Using class-A foam, the firefighters treat homes around the area where the fire will impact first.
“With large crown fires that’s generally what we try to do,” says Fixter. “A lot of the fires in Canberra can get very large within a short time frame, so quickly in fact that you can’t actually get close enough to conduct a direct attack. At that point we go into defensive structure mode and begin to protect residents homes.”
Although they have only had the CAFS units for one season so far, using class-A foam CAFS to pre-treat has been a welcome addition in our ACTFB fleet toolbox in helping to protect homes. “It’s great, these Waterous CAFSystems are faster and much more efficient than using strictly water pumps,” says Fixter. “In fact this past summer we had a big brushfire that started within the suburbs. The fire was crowning in pine forest and was so fast that it led to three homes being lost within five minutes. It spread quickly, however we were able to get our CAFS units there to pre-treat the fuel and prevent any further homes from being lost from house to house exposure.”
The fire Mr. Fixter is referring to started at an old Canberra site where bricks used to be made. The area is surrounded by the suburb of Yarralumla, which contains large pine trees, native grass and gum trees in the area very close to the back fences of the homes in the area.
The fire was extremely fast moving due to the strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity. The ACTFB was quickly called in and had all four of the CAFS units arrive at the scene within twelve minutes. Upon arrival, the CAFS crews helped to prevent any further houses from being lost by pre-treating the fuel and houses that were exposed to the embers and the radiant heat.
“The CAFS units are definitely an excellent tool for property protection,” says Fixter. “The CAFS solution traps in all the water and provides a moisture barrier from the flame and embers so it can’t reach the house. And, by creating a barrier from the flames the foam is able to offer treated homes far more protection than just water which evaporates very quickly in wildfire conditions.”
“Our crews really did a good job,” says Fixter. “We have many running grass fires in the Canberra region each year and last summer we got to see how effective the CAFS units can be at direct attack in our quick moving grass fires. Our operators are constantly learning and improving with CAFS fire fighting techniques and through our experience so far, we have even started developing new and innovative CAFS strategies to combat wildfires with even more speed and safety.”
Fixter and his fellow firefighters are also finding other uses for their CAFS units. “We have found in training that they are very effective for car fires and possibly supplying aerial appliances with a CAFS solution,” says Fixter. “The difference between using CAFS on a car fire and using water on a car fire is about one minute compared to five minutes...it’s very a powerful tool when combined with the correct training.”
Although the ACTFB’s CAFS units are mainly dedicated to wildland and brush fires, Fixter and his crews see the potential use of CAFS systems in other areas of firefighting. “Its track record speaks for itself,” says Fixter. “With that kind of performance and the proper training, CAFS has the potential to become a major firefighting tool for fire service professionals around the world.”
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