The City of Monroe Fire Department has proposed an environmentally friendly approach to fighting fires.
Speaking at a city council work session, Captain Mike Foley and Chief Robert Wight talked about recent fire department purchases, including new firefighting foam without per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
According to Foley, the department currently uses Class A Foam to help extinguish fires, but this type of foam does contain PFAS.
The foam is mixed with the water supply on the trucks to quickly extinguish a fire. Firefighting foam is much quicker at taming a fire compared to regular water because of its chemical components. Class A Foam bonds with the carbon molecules to stop a fire.
“You cannot relight [the fire] because it bonds at a molecular level,” Foley said. “It provides that much more fire suppression... you can really tell the difference.”
According to Foley, the State Fire Marshall recently told the fire department to stop buying foam with PFAS in high quantities.