EAST YAPHANK, New York, - Firematic International has indroduced an affordable compressed air foam system.
This new system named Porta-CAFS®, upgrades your capability by increasing the effectiveness and safety of firefighters in
limited water and personnel conditions. Compressed air foam has a proven track record of 3 to 5 times faster knock-down.
Firematic has embraced this technology and designed a 650 CFM CAF system that is both afford-able and reliable.
Porta-CAFS® is a high volume low pressure compressed air foam system. Rather than high pressure compressors attached
to truck mounted pumps with costs in the $200.00 U.S. to $250.00 U.S. dollar per CFM cost. Porta-CAFS® has
revolutionized the industry with a cost of less that $5.00 per CFM. The patented Porta-CAFS® unit is designed for any time
you need a lot of foam fast.
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Smaller vehicles, less man power and less water usually spells doom, but not with Porta-CAFS®. Other fire equipment manufacturers
and fire training academies have already proven that CAFS technology optimizes cooling. CAFS also allows deeper penetration into
materials which would otherwise be water repellant. The knockdown capability of the Porta-CAFS® is tremendous due to the CAF to
steam conversion. Steam is known to be approximately 1700 times the volume of water. Porta-CAFS® delivers such an expanded
stream of CAF that the volume of air around the fire is both
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cooled and reduced which in turn diminishes the oxygen content and disrupts the fire tetrahedron. Porta-CAFS® was originally
designed as a wildland fire fighting tool. The environmentally friendly CAFS can be propelled further than traditional fire streams
which means your initial attack can be from greater distances which reduces risk to the firefighter. The success in wildland application
is due to the tremendous knockdown power and ability to easily change from wet to dry foam which provides a longer lasting
protective foam blanket.
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Once it was determined that Porta-CAFS® provided longer drain times, better cooling and improved vapor suppression
it was only natural for the fire service to utilize this technology in many other non-wildland fire operations. When fighting fires
with straight water, only about 10% of your application actually fights the fire. With Porta-CAFS®, 90% of the fire stream
fights the fire due to better adhesion and penetration properties of the foam product.
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During an initial attack, Porta-CAFS® suppresses vapors,
cools surfaces and captures sparks and suspended embers. This leads to less time and manpower needed for
overhaul due to the presoaking which naturally occurs during the initial attack. This is especially welcomed when
dealing with large trash dumpsters. Your firefighters can reduce the risk associated with overhauling the unknown
contents of a dumpster.
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The Porta-CAFS® design has eliminated the drawbacks usually associated with conventional CAFS units.
Porta-CAFS® does all its work at the end of the hose line, so you don’t need special high pressure fire hose.
It also eliminates the problem of hose kinking usually associated with CAFS. One of the biggest benefits is
not having the reaction force of the initial discharge to deal with. Porta-CAFS® does not create any additional
stored air pressure in the hose line.
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Another benefit of Porta-CAFS® is the ability to attack with tank water. Rather than have to take the
time to hit the hydrant and set up supply lines. The effectiveness of Porta-CAFS® allows for an indirect
attack on a structure through a door or windows without putting firefighters at risk. This is due to Porta-CAFS®
providing equal or better knockdown capabilities than water at half the standard flow rate. Remember that CAFS
technology saves water by knocking down the fire faster, not by reducing flow rate.
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Fire investigators worldwide are also realizing that CAFS technology has proven to safeguard evidence.
Yes the investigator must wait for the dissipation of the foam. But the end result is a less disturbed fire scene.
Scene runoff of carcinogens and debris is also reduced due to less water at the scene.
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You are wondering… How does it all work? It’s easy. Strap on a Porta-CAFS® unit.
Hook up a 1” to 1.75” hose line with a water and foam solution and let it rip. The foam and water
solution can be from any type of foam metering device or even a pre-mixed tank. The throttle control
on the blower allows for the operator to choose between dry or wet foam. Porta-CAFS® comes with
four replaceable gallonage inserts ranging from 20 to 80 GPM. This will give you all the power of traditional
CAFS units at a fraction of the cost… and portable too.
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