How the Kobe earthquake could change the way we fight wildfires

Every year, deadly wildfires destroy homes and consume vast swathes of natural habitat. In this episode we see how a new eco-friendly fire-fighting foam, could be a global game-changer.

Wildfires ravage many parts of the world and with predictions of hotter, drier weather we are likely to see even more of them in future. The Japanese city of Kitakyushu had 10 forest fires last year alone. It was here the fire service came up with the fire-fighting foam. It was originally conceived to reduce the water needed to put out building fires after the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake.

“During this earthquake, many fires started. At the time, fire hydrants and fire cisterns were destroyed by the earthquake and we couldn’t store water,” Sakamoto Masaaki, from the Fire and Disaster Management Bureau in Kitakyushu explained.

Teaming up with a city university and soap company, the fire service perfected the foam which is created by mixing a solution, made from naturally-sourced soap, into water.

The foam is chemical-free, biodegradable and works by disrupting water droplets.

“When the fire extinguishing agent is mixed, the droplet of water is not able to form and becomes sticky. So, it’s well absorbed in the openings of fabrics or wood,” Masaaki said.

The success of the foam focused researchers’ minds on how it could be used elsewhere, notably wildfires.

University of Kitakyushu research shows that it’s up to 266 times less harmful than other synthetic versions.

“There is data showing that water consumption can be reduced to less than one seventeenth. And for environmental performance, it is much less toxic to fish and other aquatic life than synthetic extinguishing agents," said Dr. Kawahara Takayoshi, Director, Research & Development