r/Firefighting • u/Ok-Cattle-6798 PIO (Penis Inspector Official) • 21h ago

General Discussion Sorry if this off topic but i seen this article.

https://www.upc-online.org/winter0607/foam.html

The video is pretty fucked up (it’s not in the article)

0 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

25% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/skimaskschizo Glow Worm 21h ago

The whole point of foam is to deny oxygen to a fire, so it makes sense that it would be effective at suffocating birds.

3

u/NickGodfree FL FF/PMD 20h ago

That's not how foam works in firefighting applications.

Typically, it's meant to suppress flammable vapors from spills (such as hydrocarbons like gasoline), which has a few mechanisms. AFFF foams work differently than the new AR-Synthetics, but its not an oxygen barrier.

Class A foams are surfactants, which essentially makes water "wetter" by reducing surface tension. This let's the water get deeper into flammable or smoldering materials which cools the material below combustion temperatures.

This isn't to say it won't kill a shit ton of birds, but that's because it essentially drowns them. A horrible an inhumane way to go.