NEW ALBANY • The Southeast Volunteer Fire Department hosted the Union County Fire Service Chiefs at Station 2 the week of July 1 for a demonstration of F-500 Encapsulator Agent – a product the department has used since 2005 – by Ken Stroud of Hazard Control Technologies, Inc.
Firefighters thanked him for the information and demonstration. They also thanked Cow Creek Towing & Recovery for the donation of the vehicle that was used.
Said Union County EMA Director Curt Clayton, who is also chief of the Southeast Volunteer Fire Department: “Some of our fire departments use it, some don’t. We’ve used it since about 2006. We can add it to our water in a 1to 6 percent ratio or pour it straight into a water tank.”
The agent lets firefighters use less water to put out some types of blazes. “That’s an advantage when we’re fighting a fire in a rural area, where there may be no way to get more water, and you’ve got to use what you’ve got, “Clayton said.
Southeast volunteer firefighters used the agent on a recent car-hauler fire on the interstate, and were able to save the hauler and several of the cars from being destroyed by fire. Firefighters also used the agent during the furniture warehouse fire at North Haven several years ago.
--F-500 EA answers many of today’s firefighting challenges, in a world where fires have become hotter and more difficult to extinguish, Union County Fire Coordinator Butch Cobb said this week.
F-500 EA can cool a fire and surrounding structures, and absorb 6-10 times more heat energy than plain water without the creation of super-heated steam.
F-500 EA also forms Spherical Micelles or “chemical cocoons” that encapsulate fuels, rendering them nonflammable and non-ignitable.
F-500 EA interrupts the free radical chain reaction of the fire tetrahedron. This interruption results in greater visibility, reduced smoke and soot and a drastic reduction in toxins, Cobb said.
F-500 Encapsulator Agent is not a foam, so it contains no fluorinates ingredients. F-500 EA is completely biodegradable and is non-hazardous, containing no ingredients reportable under the Superfund Amendments and Re-authorization Act (SARA) Title III, Section 313 or the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), Cobb said.
The Shelf life is 15 years and it can be discarded as a non-hazardous waste under RCRA CFR261.
In short, F-500 Encapsulator;
--Offers rapid cooling.
--Encapsulates fuel.
--Interrupts Free Radical chain reaction.
--Offers drastic reductions in cancer-causing toxin and smoke.
--Has no fluorinated ingredients (PFOA/PFAS).
--Has no scalding steam.
These unique properties make F-500 Encapsulator Agent the most versatile firefighting agent available. Unlike foam, which must form and maintain a perfect blanket to separate the fire from the oxygen, the F-500 EA Spherical Micelle technology encapsulates the fuel and vapors on a molecular level rendering them nonflammable.
The agent works on most types of fires, including wood, cloth, rubber, paper, combustible granules or powders, gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, jet fuel, hydraulic oil, ethanol blend products, magnesium, titanium, aluminum, lithium ion batteries and storage systems.
