Waterous CAFS units help protect Australia's capital territory.

Waterous 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" for its densely vegetated parks and forests, Canberra offers visitors some beautiful scenery. However during the summer months, the climate in the region becomes extremely hot and dry, which can quickly turn the beautiful scenery of Canberra into a potential danger zone if a brush fire occurs.

Firefighters who work at the ACTFB are all too familiar with these conditions and have learned to keep a watchful eye on the brush during these dry summer months.
"It's always a busy time for us," says Paul Fixter, Station Officer and Senior compressed air foam system (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 CAFS technology we are using is highly advanced yet easy to use for a variety of applications," says Fixter. "It translates into more training time to hone the skills that help us defend homes and bring wildland fires under control."

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 2000L CAFS units with 100gpm/ 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. Crew safety is also incorporated into the design with its emergency sprinkler systems, nomex curtains and additional warning features.

"CAFSystems mounted on large urban/rural fire appliances are relatively new to Australia," says Fixter. "It was initially met with some hesitation because it was such a new technology, but the guys at Waterous put us at ease. They worked closely with us to help with 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 work."

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." 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 focus on is in the area of property protection. At the ACTFB, this means pre-treating homes and gardens.
When a fire starts, Level II operators use a two-prong attack. They first send trucks out to the location of the brushfire and try to stop it with a direct attack. If the fire is too big for a direct attack, they send CAFS units into the suburbs and begin to pre-treat homes.

"With large crown fires that's generally what we try to do," says Fixter. "A lot of fires in Canberra get too big too fast, making it too difficult to get close enough to conduct a direct attack. At that point we go into defensive structure mode and begin to protect homes."

Although the ACTFB has only had the CAFS units for one season, it has been a welcome addition to the ACTFB's fleet toolbox for property protection. "It's great, these Waterous CAFSystems are faster and much more efficient than using just water," says Fixter. "We got to see how much this past summer when we had a big brushfire that started within the suburbs." The fire was crowning in the pine forest and moved so fast that it led to three homes being lost within five minutes. The ACTFB then arrived and were able to get the CAFS units there to pre-treat the area and prevent any further homes from being lost from house-to-house exposure.
The fire started at an old Canberra brick factory. The area is surrounded by the suburb of Yarralumla, containing large pine trees, native grass and gum trees, which are very close to the back fences of neighboring homes.

Due to the strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity of that day, the fire was able to move quickly. The ACTFB was called in and all four of the CAFS units arrived at the scene within twelve minutes. The CAFS crews quickly helped prevent any further damage 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 foam solution traps in all the water and provides a moisture barrier from the flame and embers so it can't reach the house." By creating a barrier from the flames the foam is able to offer 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 were at direct attack for moving grass fires." From that experience alone, ACTFB CAFS operators got to see how they could improve techniques to combat wildfires with more speed and safety.

Fixter and his fellow firefighters are also finding other uses for their CAFS units. "It's extremely 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 a very powerful tool when combined with the correct training."

Although the ACTFB's CAFS units are mainly dedicated to wildland and brush fires, the ACTFB sees the potential in CAFS. "Its track record speaks for itself," says Fixter. "With that kind of performance and the proper training, CAFS has the potential to become the premier firefighting tool for fire service professionals around the world."

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