Large Foam Rigs Protect Industrial Facilities

1 US Fire Apparatus built this Industrial Super Pumper for Shell Geismar’s Louisiana chemical plant carrying a US Fire Pump HVP 6,000-gpm rear-mount pump and a 2,000-gallon foam tank. (Photo 1 courtesy of US Fire Apparatus.)

2 CustomFIRE Apparatus Inc. built an industrial pumper for Petrojam Ltd.’s Jamaican refinery with a Hale 8FG 3,000-gpm pump and a 1,500-gallon foam tank. (Photo 2 courtesy of CustomFIRE Apparatus Inc.)

3 Refinery Fire (TX) Terminal Company had CustomFIRE build it a 118-foot foam tower with a Waterous 4,000-gpm rear-mount pump and a 785-gallon foam tank. (Photo 3 courtesy of Refinery Fire Terminal Company.)

4 Sutphen Corp. built an industrial foam pumper for the Shell Polymers (PA) Monaca chemical plant with a Waterous CRU-2 3,000-gpm pump, a 1,000-gallon foam tank, and a 500-gallon water tank. (Photo 4 courtesy of Sutphen Corp.)

Carroll adds that US Fire Apparatus also built an industrial attack foam tender for Intercontinental (TX) Terminals Company on an International HV613 two-door commercial chassis and cab powered by an International 450-hp engine and an Allison 4500 EVS automatic transmission. The attack foam tender has a 2,000-gallon Class B foam cell, a FoamPro AccuMax 300-gpm multipoint direct injection foam system, a TFT Tsunami monitor with a US Fire Pump 9,000-gpm Sentry 9 nozzle, and dual TFT Monsoon wireless remote controlled 2,000-gpm monitors.

Jim Kirvida, head of industrial sales for CustomFIRE Apparatus Inc., says it’s much more difficult to design and build an industrial fire rig than a traditional municipal fire pumper. “We have a collaboration with Sutphen Corporation called Industrial Fire Solutions where we build industrial products only using Sutphen’s Monarch chassis,” Kirvida explains. He says that CustomFIRE recently built an industrial pumper for Petrojam Ltd.’s Jamaican refinery with a Hale 8FG 3,000-gpm pump, a 1,500-gallon foam concentrate tank, a National Foam Servo Command 300-gpm demand balance pressure foam pump, a Williams Fire and Hazard Control Ranger 3+ 4,000-gpm monitor, and 13 foam-enabled discharges.

Paul Swetish, chief of Refinery Fire (TX) Terminal Company (RFTC), says CustomFIRE built his company a 118-foot foam tower with a midmount four-piece boom on a 2022 Spartan chassis that has a Waterous CRU2TC21 4,000-gpm rear-mount pump, a 785-gallon foam tank, and a FoamPro AccuMax-II 300-gpm flow-based direct injection foam pump. Swetish says RTFC is privately owned by 23 member companies in Corpus Christi, Texas, and responds to 23 refineries at 60 locations with six pumpers, three towers, three foam tenders, and five skid pump units.

Zach Rudy, director of sales for Sutphen Corporation, points out that Sutphen specializes in industrial aerial rigs in the industrial market. He says Sutphen built a SPI 112-foot industrial aerial platform for Chevron Phillips (TX) Chemical Co.’s Cedar Bayou Plant on a Sutphen Monarch chassis and four-door cab, with a Waterous CRU-2 4,000-gpm industrial fire pump, an 800-gallon foam tank, a Waterous Aquis Ultraflow 300-gpm electronically controlled direct injection foam system, a Trident 300-gpm bronze rotary gear hydraulic motor-drive foam pump, four TFT 2,000-gpm Monsoon monitors with combination nozzles, and eight foam-capable gated discharges.

Sutphen also built an industrial foam pumper for Shell Polymers (PA) Monaca chemical plant on a Sutphen Monarch chassis and four-door cab, powered by a 600-hp Cummins X15 engine and an Allison 4000 EVS Gen 5 automatic transmission. Rudy says the pumper has a Waterous CRU-2 3,000-gpm industrial fire pump with a C-21 extra heavy duty chain-drive transmission, a 1,000-gallon foam tank, a 500-gallon water tank, a Trident 300-gpm rotary gear motor-driven foam pump, an Akron AeroMaster 3,000-gpm monitor with a combination nozzle, and an Akron StreamMaster 2,000-gpm monitor with a combination nozzle.

Aaron Zak, product specialist lead for fire suppression at Pierce Manufacturing Inc., notes that some refineries don’t want to use foam totes for firefighting but prefer to have a big knockdown and suppression capability on their rigs. Pierce recently built an industrial pumper-tanker for the Chevron Pasadena (TX) Refinery, Zak says, on a Velocity chassis with TAK4® independent front suspension and dual rear axles powered by a 605-hp Cummins X15 engine and an Allison 4500 EVS automatic transmission. The pumper-tanker has a Darley 2ZSM 5,500-gpm pump, a 2,500-gallon foam tank, a 500-gallon water tank, a Williams Ambassador 6,000-gpm monitor, four 8-inch intakes, and three 6-inch discharges.

For the Exxonmobil Baytown (TX) Refinery, Zak says Pierce built an industrial pumper with a Darley 2ZSM 5,500-gpm pump and 1,000-gallon foam tank on a single-rear-axle chassis. The rig has TAK-4 independent front suspension and is powered by a 605-hp Cummins X15 engine and an Allison 4500 EVS automatic transmission. Zak notes that while the Darley pump is rated at 5,500 gpm from draft from a pressurized water source, it can deliver more than 10,000 gpm through multiple discharges.

5 Pierce Manufacturing Inc. built this industrial pumper-tanker for the Chevron Pasadena (TX) Refinery on a Velocity chassis with a Darley 2ZSM 5,500-gpm pump, a 2,500-gallon foam tank, and a 500-gallon water tank. (Photo 5 courtesy of Pierce Manufacturing Inc.)

6 Ferrara Fire Apparatus built this industrial pumper for Exxon Beaumont (TX) Polyethylene on an Inferno chassis with a Hale 8FG 3,000-gpm pump and a 1,000-gallon foam tank. (Photo 6 courtesy of Ferrara Fire Apparatus.)

7 Rosenbauer built this industrial pumper-tanker for a customer in the Middle East with a Rosenbauer N130 3,000-gpm pump, a 1,500-gallon foam tank, a 500-gallon water tank, 2,000 pounds of dry chemical, and a 6,000-ft3 CO2 extinguishing system. (Photo 7 courtesy of Rosenbauer.)

Jim Stover, sales manager for Ferrara Fire Apparatus, says Ferrara built an industrial pumper for Exxon Beaumont (TX) Polyethylene on an Inferno chassis with a side-mount Hale 8FG 3,000-gpm pump, a 1,000-gallon foam tank, and a Williams HotShot 2 monitor. Stover adds that for Chalmette (LA) Refining LLC, Ferrara built an Inundator Super Pumper on an Inferno chassis with a rear-mount 6,000-gpm US Fire Pump HVP pump, a 900-gallon foam tank, a FoamPro AccuMax 300-gpm multipoint foam injection system, an Edwards 300-gpm foam pump, a TFT Tsunami 8,000-gpm monitor, and two TFT 2,000-gpm Monsoon monitors.

For Paulsboro (NJ) Refining Company, Stover points out that Ferrara built an Inundator Super Pumper on an Inferno chassis powered by a 600-hp Cummins X15 engine and an Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission. The Paulsboro super pumper has a US Fire Pump HVP 5,550-gpm bronze rear-mount pump, a 1,000-gallon foam tank, an Edwards 300-gpm foam pump, a FoamPro AccuMax 300-gpm multipoint foam injection system, a TFT Tsunami 8,000-gpm monitor, and two TFT 2,000-gpm Monsoon monitors.

Chris Kleinhuizen, chief engineer for body production at Rosenbauer, says that there are two schools of thought with using foam in industrial facilities. “The first is that the apparatus should have everything it needs on it to handle the situation, and that includes foam,” he says. “Most refineries are looking for 4,000-gpm pumps with a standard foam tank to make an initial attack and then to have a large amount in reserve to continue the attack whether it be from tenders or totes. The other school of thought is to have a pumper or pumper-tanker with a large quantity of foam that is then resupplied from containers.”

Kleinhuizen adds that the majority of the industrial pumpers Rosenbauer has built for customers have had foam tanks in the 1,500 to 2,000-gallon range, typically with a 3,500-gpm pump or higher on the rig. “We’ve even built a few industrial rigs carrying 3,000 gallons of foam and one that I recall had 4,000 gallons,” he observes, “but those are essentially foam tankers.”

ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizona-based journalist, the author of three novels and five nonfiction books, and a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Editorial Advisory Board. He served 22 years with the Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including in the position of chief.