Photo of Foam 12 courtesy of LBFD

The Long Beach Fire Department welcomed a regionally significant asset to its fleet of emergency service vehicles last month–a truck outfitted with foam and dry chemical extinguishing agents that is unique to Southern California.

Equipped with its own set of high-pressure nozzles, the rig, designated as “Foam 12,” is meant to assist with oil spills, fuel fires, large “tank farm” refinery fires and other such low-frequency, high-risk calls. 

Foam 12 was funded by a grant to replace LBFD’s older, lower-capacity unit that was removed from service years ago. 

“An extensive amount of fuel and hazardous cargo travels throughout Long Beach daily on its freeways, railways and within the port area,” the Department said in a release about the acqusition. “Because of this, Foam 12 is critical to public safety.”

The rig can carry up to 1320 gallons of class B foam and 500 pounds of dry chemical, known as Purple K. Because the rig has no on-board water source, however, it will be deployed along with a fire engine.

“This new grant funded asset will give the Long Beach Fire Department the ability to respond to complex petroleum based fires in a way that we have not seen before,” said Fire Chief Mike DuRee. “The need to be ready, on a moment’s notice, is the hallmark of the Long Beach Fire Department and this new tool will help our Firefighters continue to respond to the needs of our community in a world class way.”