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4/14/2006 - ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE
BASE, S.D. (AFPN) -- A B-1 hangar is filled with more
bubbles than a dinosaur-sized hot tub. There are people
standing around with suds up to their eyeballs. People are
standing on top of the rafters in the building as foam and
bubbles continue to rise.
Did a glacier melt? Did some kind of ultra-secret government
underground lab have a freak accident? Most importantly,
which maintenance troop’s head rolled for this one?
Actually, it’s none of the above. Those who have seen the
e-mail that seems to be burning up the communication lines
across the Department of Defense need to brace themselves:
That hangar at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., was filled
with foam on purpose.
That misleading e-mail with an attached slide presentation
showing photos of the test has caused considerable work in
correcting wrong information.
A modern high-expansion foam system was placed in the hangar
to replace an aging fire suppression system, said Lt. Col.
Navnit Singh, 28th Civil Engineer Squadron commander. The
contractor responsible for installing the system submitted a
plan prior to installation to test the system. The plan was
approved, he said.
The test of the new foam system was conducted Aug. 23.
Required coverage occurred within one minute of the system
being activated. The test was so successful, the foam
reached the observation platform where officials were
documenting the procedure.
The Air Force required a minimum of one meter of foam to be
achieved in four minutes or less. For testing purposes, the
foam was allowed to disperse for the full four minutes.
The observers were surprised at how quickly the system
generated the fire suppressing foam, Colonel Singh said.
The system worked so well the exterior door of the hangar
had to be opened before the test was fully completed. These
events account for the photos of the amount of foam inside
and outside of the hangar.
So, did someone have a gross miscue? No. On the contrary, a
fire suppression system responsible for helping protect
vital mission-essential assets and, most importantly, for
helping safeguard Airmen’s lives, worked extremely well. The
foam system exceeded Air Force standards, Colonel Singh
said.
How do you figure
out whether a foam firefighting system in an air force
hangar is set up correctly and works? Well you turn it on
for a few seconds, to make sure it's got pressure and
everything. First you set up a scaffolding so you can record
the event and show the flow coming out of all nozzles.
After 15 seconds you
can see foam is covering all areas it has to, so the test is
successful.
This is the guy standing on top of the
scaffolding.
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