Nothing strikes gut wrenching fear in a person like the word, ?fire?. I think because we are so powerless over the ravages of fire and destruction that follows. The finality of the ensuing losses from a fire is too deep of an emotional hurt. All of us can relate when we see someone who has suffered the loss of a home or business from a destructive fire. I live in an area that was devastated by fire just last year, and we watched as home after home was destroyed. Afterward, driving through the neighborhood it was heartbreaking to see everything destroyed. These families woke-up that morning and cooked breakfast, showered, went to work and school, walked the dog, planned the rest of the day and maybe at some point thought about the rest of their lives. ?We will plant roses here?. "This is a good time to have another baby? ?Let's invite my folks to spend the holidays?. Then "wham" it is all changed?all gone. No tangible home, no tangible memories; it is all turned to ashes, and now they have to start from scratch. However do you do that?

Fortunately, with fire fighting inroads in both science and technology firefighters now have a little more power over the ravages of fire. One such development is fire fighting foam. Fire fighting foam, chemical foam, was first used at the end of the 19th century. Approximately 50 years later. Aerofoam was formulated and was replaced by fluoroprotein foam 20 years later. In the mid 60's we saw the first synthetic foam, aqueous film forming foam, AFFF, from the Navy, and, AR-AFFF followed. As AR-AFFF and ATC- AFFF prove to be successful on a number of fuels, it is the industry standard today.

However, research and technology has continued toward the widespread use of environmentally responsible fire fighting foams. These environmentally friendly foams are safe for both firefighters and the environment. The new ?green? foams can be used on class A fires and class B fires and class A/B fires. As well, the RDDS self-contained DECON systems have been used by the past summer and winter Olympics.

As the climate changes, firefighters across our country battle the quirks of man and nature. It is reassuring to know that there are companies, such as US Foam Technologies Inc., that are stepping up to help keep us and the environments safe.