Published in the May 2007 American Longwall Magazine

New emergency laws require mine companies to provide escape shelters for just a scenario. These shelters offer a temporary life support system, buying time until the rescue teams arrive, bringing new air supplies and firefighting capabilities.

However, at this point there is very little firefighting technology available to coal mine firefighters.

Rubber melts into pools of burning liquid and ash – a pool of liquid hydrocarbon that is extremely difficult to extinguish with water. If this was an above-ground fire, the local fire department would use foam, to fight the “Class A” and “Class B” type of fire. Rubber creates a combination “Class A” and “Class B” fire.

Water is not effective for liquid rubber or a “Class B” fire. Hence, fire departments all around the world are equipping fire departments with a new type of foam generating system, known as Compressed Air Foam (CAFS).

CAFS creates lightweight foam and pumps it through a standard fire hose, making the hose 20 times lighter than the current water-filled fire hose. This makes firefighting and maneuverability much easier and more effective with less manpower.

According to compressed air foam technology specialist CAFSCO, a division of Cummins Industries, previous attempts to use foam systems have used conventional water hoses, flowing high volumes of water treated with a foaming agent through. This weighs the same as a standard water-filled hose and requires great effort to maneuver.

The early foam-generating nozzles created large fragile bubbles that were not very effective in extinguishing hot turbulent fires, CAFSCO said.

“The difference in the CAFS method of creating foam is the lightweight foam-filled hose conveying high velocity, small celled foam that has a long throwing distance. This allows the firefighter to attack the fire from a much safer distance,” CAFSCO said.

“A prime benefit of the CAFS foam is its ability to chemically attract and encapsulate deadly airborne carbon, which scrubs the air of toxic smoke and gases to clear visibility and cool the environment.”

Rescue teams could bring a portable CAFS manifold and connect to the existing water and air supply pipes within the mine.

CAFSCO said the CAFS, currently used by surface firefighters, should be introduced to coal mine emergency response organizations and included in new laws being developed for the US coal industry.