This color educational/training film is about the new system for fire protection of flammable liquid storage tanks. It is circa late 1976 / early 1977. The product mentioned, aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) is a highly effective foam intended for fighting high-hazard flammable liquid fires.
No opening credits/titles. Opening: narrator informs us that this film is about a new system for fire protection of flammable liquid storage tanks. On Screen Card: Light Water Brand AFFF, 2% sub-surface injection. Light water is hosed onto a fire in an industrial work area. The water is continuously sprayed onto a raging fire. Aerial shots of bulk storage of fuel tanks. Japanese workers at a table. October 1976 – Japan test to see if a new tank is up to task (:06-1:44). Top side home chamber systems are the current best tanks. Animation shows a fire and how the foam is injected at the base to stop it. Light water concentrate container. A text is shown as to how this works (1:45-2:59). Testing grounds are prepared near the tank. Close on the tank. Other equipment near the tank. Trucks provide oil to the tank for the test. Foam enters the water. An onscreen clock shows time elapsed and how the fire hasn’t progressed due to the experiment and hat was included. A group of men line up for the test to watch. The tank is on fire again. It is a raging fire. An onscreen clock begins (at 1 second) as the foam is injected into the tank that is burring. Aerial shots of the raging fire atop the tank. 1 min, 20 sec in, the fire has rapidly dissipated. As the foam cools the surface the rest of the fire at the edges slowly is put out. At about 3 mins the entire fire is almost out. Close on the foam on top of the water (3:00-7:45). Aerial shot of the men atop the tank staring at the foam inside it. The fire that remains, a very small amount, slowly burns out on the top. At 8 mins, 47 sec, the fire is completely out. Onscreen statistics of the experiment (7:46-9:00).
Workers hose down the tank. Test #2 begins, the fire has begun and is raging. A diagram shows the heat of the tank. The flames are intense. The flames are knocked down rather quickly, 7 mins, 22 sec for this fire to be extinguished. Onscreen statistics of the experiment (9:01-10:47). Test #3 begins, a fire has begun and is very intense. Thick black smoke in the aerial shots. The fire is out in 6 mins, 19 sec. The tank is shown on fire in an aerial shot. Aerial shot of the fire having dissipated. The tank is no longer on fire (10:48-12:17). No end credits.
AFFF has its origins in the United States. Beginning in the early 1960s, the Naval Research Lab or NRL conducted research on fire suppression that eventually led to one of the most far-reaching benefits to worldwide aviation safety — the development of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF). AFFF rapidly extinguishes hydrocarbon fuel fires. It has the additional property of forming an aqueous film on the fuel surface that prevents evaporation and hence, reignition of the fuel once it has been extinguished by the foam. The film also has a unique, self-healing capability whereby scars in the film layer caused by falling debris or firefighting activities are rapidly resealed. This firefighting foam is now used on all U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and by major airports, refineries, and other areas where potentially catastrophic fuel fires can occur. In 1979, this NRL-developed fire suppressant was in use at more than 90 airports in the U.S. alone as well as in many civilian fire departments.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
