The official commissioning of the mobile foam extinguishing system supplied by InnoVfoam took place at the fire station in Den Helder at 19.00 on Wednesday, 20 January. The extinguishing system was successfully tested and put into operation in the presence of the mayor of Den Helder and various dignitaries and invited guests from the fire brigade, the Noord-Holland North Safety Region and the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM). NAM ordered the mobile system from InnoVfoam BV, but it will be manned and operated by the fire brigade in Den Helder as part of the Noord-Holland North Safety Region's emergency response service.
Den Helder is home to one of the largest gas processing plants in the world. The municipality of Den Helder, the fire brigade and NAM work closely together with respect to safety and risk management at the plant and in the surrounding area. The special mobile foam extinguishing system is purpose-built for fighting complex liquid fires and was developed in collaboration with InnoVfoam BV.
The main priorities in designing the system were user-friendliness and quality. The system has six hose connections for drawing water from NAM's fire hydrant mains. A precisely calibrated amount of foam concentrate is added to the mobile system’s water stream. The foam premix is subsequently pumped at high pressure through six hose outlets to mobile firefighting deluge guns. The integrated storage tank can be filled with up 7000 litres of foam concentrate – enough to fight a fire for 30 minutes. The system is designed to be extremely easy to use and to fit in a container so it can be transported by a fire engine with a hook arm and quickly set up. This will enable the fire brigade to use the system throughout the region.
After the spectacular demonstration of the system's capabilities, the people present exchanged views on the importance of cooperation in safety and risk management in the Noord-Holland North Safety Region while enjoying a snack and a drink.
Looking back, InnoVfoam is delighted with its unique collaboration with the various organisations involved in the Noord-Holland North Safety Region and the highly successful result!