Fire Suppression Kit

This 1,000-pound kit was developed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to provide quick aid in fighting aircraft crash fires. The tank contained 83 gallons of water and foam, but when this mixture reached the air at the nozzle, it expanded to more than eight times its volume to produce about 690 gallons of fire-fighting foam. The kit could be picked up from its trailer in a cargo sling by an HH-43 crash-rescue helicopter and lifted to the fire site. A heater was mounted on the trailer to prevent the tank contents from freezing when on "ready alert" status at an airbase in cold weather. (U.S. Air Force photo)

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Fire Suppression Kit

Note: This item is currently in storage.

This 1,000-pound kit was developed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to provide quick aid in fighting aircraft crash fires. The tank contained 83 gallons of water and foam, but when this mixture reached the air at the nozzle, it expanded to more than eight times its volume to produce about 690 gallons of fire-fighting foam. The kit could be picked up from its trailer in a cargo sling by an HH-43 crash-rescue helicopter and lifted to the fire site. A heater was mounted on the trailer to prevent the tank contents from freezing when on "ready alert" status at an airbase in cold weather.

This particular kit is one of two such units assigned to Detachment 6 of the 44th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, Andrews Air Force Base, Md., from April 1962 to March 1973. In addition to their use in responding to declared airborne aircraft emergencies, these two kits were carried by HH-43 helicopters providing airborne precautionary protection for Presidents John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon on all helicopter flights between the White House and Andrews Air Force Base and on Air Force One presidential aircraft flights into and out of Andrews.

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