OAKDALE AREA FIRE ASSOCIATION
December 11th, 2011
Around here, we have lots of vegetation and it can get dry and very windy – ideal conditions for wildfires. On October 22, we responded to a wild land fire started by hot ashes that were carried into the nearby woods, starting what turned into a ten+ acre wildfire. Together, we responded with a group from Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
For this response, the DNR used two John Deere units with rear-mounted plows to create a firebreak surrounding the fire. These DNR vehicles have water tanks on each side, mounted above the tracks.
Our fire department’s primary wildland unit on the scene was a pickup truck with a 175-gallon skid unit on the back featuring a 15 hp engine and a hose reel on top. This unit had been filled with TetraKO solution about three months earlier.
We worked side-by-side with the DNR to contain the wildfire within the firebreak.
The DNR was using Class A foam on their John Deere units. And our fire department also used Class A foam on a second brush truck that was on the scene.
My experience with the use of foam on these types of fires is that, after a short time, the foam evaporates and you end up with rekindling problems. But with TetraKO, when we sprayed a protective coating, it just melded into the vegetation, heavy brush and dead wood. And we were amazed at how it smothered the fire and prevented any rekindling.
Our small skid unit with TetraKO and 175 gallons of mixed solution was able to contain the one third of the fire’s perimeter we were responsible for. The DNR’s two John Deere units, during the same time, had to return to the water fill point three times each to contain the remaining perimeter.
I was truly amazed, and I’m planning to put TetraKO into both of my trucks. Thanks for giving us the chance to try TetraKO.
-Gordon Fick Oakdale Area Fire Association Chief
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