Yesterday our Fire Marshal, Allen Nelson, received a call from an insurance company official praising the work of Eden Prairie’s firefighters. The message was that our staff’s extra effort to use tarps to cover furniture and other homeowner belongings combined with our use of “Class A” suppression foam at a recent attic fire saved over $20,000 in damages.
Our department has a history of going out of its way to care for the well being of the victims of fire. Our efforts begin from the moment we arrive at a fire scene. Saving lives is our first priority, once that has been addressed we move on to protecting those areas not already being consumed by the fire. Part of that process is providing tarps to protect valuables from the smoke and water that are natural byproducts of the fire scene.
Further enhancing our protection efforts is the use of “Class A” suppression foam. I won’t bore you with the details, but this is a product that is injected into the firetruck’s pump to aid in the knockdown and extinguishment of fires. The product increases waters ability to put out fire threefold. Quicker knockdown means less damage. The foam also provides a blanket of extinguishing agent that remains in place for a few hours and thus keeps the chances of a fire restarting to a minimum.
It is always a pleasant surprise when the little extra things done are recognized by people outside the organization. Our staff is a caring and hardworking bunch of people, neighbors in fact, that have volunteered to provide the best Fire Department possible.
