More than 20 representatives from UK airport fire services are at Inverness Airport today for a demonstration of a groundbreaking fire training foam developed by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited.

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited is leading the UK airport industry in environmental compliance by pioneering the use of the fluorine-free foam in its Airport Fire Service.

The airport operator worked with Angus Fire, a commercial fire specialist and foam manufacturer, to develop the training foam that meets the latest environmental regulations. It is the first of its kind in Europe. A programme to adapt HIAL’s airport fire appliances so that they can switch been training and operational use has also started in conjunction with fire tender manufacturer Carmichael International.

The training foam has successfully undergone rigorous testing since February in both practical fire fighting and appliance induction systems and is now being demonstrated to the UK-wide airport industry. Delegates at today’s event include fire fighters from Prestick, Dundee, Newcastle and Carlisle airports, and representatives from the UK Fire Officers’ Association and Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

In addition to the training foam a system to switch the airports fire appliances between training and operational mode has been designed, developed and tested by Carmichael International. This dual operating system is easy to use and ensures the fire appliances are continually on stand-by.

The dual operating system was also demonstrated to the UK airport industry at Inverness Airport.

Paul Hardiman, divisional officer with HIAL’s Airport Fire Service said: "The results achieved with the new foam have exceeded our expectations and it is our intention to retrofit our entire appliance fleet of 23 vehicles with the dual foam conversion. Consequently all our training, test and calibration activities will be conducted using the new foam.

"Environmental compliance is an issue we take very seriously as a company and we are delighted that we have been able to develop TF3 in conjunction with Angus Fire to meet the latest regulations. We must stress, however, that TF3 has no operational capability and can only be used for training and testing."

Mike Wilson of Angus Fire, said: "This is an important development in fire fighting foam technology. We anticipate that demand for fluorine-free training foams from fire services across Europe will rise in the future and we are very proud to have developed the first foam of its kind in partnership with HIAL."

Dave Bull, Operations Director at Carmichael International, said: "We are proud to be associated with such a big development in foam technology and the involvement with both HIAL and Angus Fire in a working partnership which has developed a dual media foam system."