Fire Fighting Chemicals
Fire Fighting Chemicals : Substances that have the ability to prevent, reduce or inhibit combustion. They can be applied from the air or from the ground and may be applied directly onto a fire or an area of unburned fuel. Common types of fire fighting chemicals include: (1) Foam - A mass of bubbles formed by mixing specific proportions of air with water and foam concentrate. Foam can be applied in order to smother and cool parts of a fire and/or to prevent ignition within a fuel. (2) Gels - Chemicals which are added to water to make it thicken. When used as an extinguishing agent the mixture is able to absorb more heat than water and sticks to the surface of the fuel. (3) Retardants - A group of chemicals that are usually mixed with water which have the ability to reduce or inhibit combustion either in the long or short term: (1) Long term retardants - have the ability to reduce or inhibit combustion even after the water that they contain has evaporated. (2) Short term retardants - are primarily used to inhibit combustion through the more immediate cooling and/or smothering of a fire. (3) Wetting agents - Chemicals which, when added to water, decrease the surface tension of the water and enable greater penetration into fuels
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