With fire hazards being a universal threat for many mining operations with their vast tracts of land, extensive infrastructure and the critical risk fires pose to underground mines, fire protection foam dosing technology company DoseTech Fire MD Mike Feldon notes that it is important for mine operators to ensure their facilities are well-equipped with efficient technology for controlling and extinguishing fires.

Incorporating more environment-friendly products into firefighting solutions, such as less invasive foams, can serve to improve a mining company's environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials.

With every industrial, mining and natural fire, large volumes of toxins are released in the air and on the ground, spread over wide areas.

Any damage analysis will show the connection between fire protection and environmental protection, notes firefighting proportioning systems and extinguishing monitors company FireDos MD Frank Preiss.

DoseTech Fire is the South Africa partner of FireDos, providing the former's products to domestic clients, some of which are mining clients.

While smoke, damaged property and fire residues can have a negative impact on the environment in which a fire occurred, he says firefighting substances can also have a lasting impact.

These include halon extinguishing agents, which since 1991 may only be used in exceptional cases such as in aircraft fires, as well as fluorine, which has been used in firefighting foams since the 1970s.

Extinguishing water, says Preiss, can also contribute to environmental damage by washing pollutants into soil and ground water.

Nonetheless, he adds that while there is a lot of discussion about how harmful extinguishing agents can be to the environment, there is less conversation about how much environmental damage is prevented when extinguishing systems are used successfully.

In this regard, Preiss notes that the earlier and more successfully a fire is brought under control, the less its effects will be.

At present, the selection for a specific firefighting system is still predominantly based on two criteria: efficacy and costs, the latter often being the determining factor for the ultimate decision.

However, he says that considering the growing focus on ESG principles, this approach must change.

Fit for Purpose

For the purpose of mitigating risks to human safety, ensuring environmental preservation, and enhancing a mining operation’s productivity, Feldon tells Mining Weekly that mine operators should ensure that effective fire extinguishing solutions are in place at their respective facilities.

DoseTech Fire offers South African industrial and mining companies fire protection solutions that will enhance their ability to improve their ESG goals.

He points out that DoseTech Fire’s latest FireDos foam proportioner technology and end-of-line firefighting equipment comes with the ability to accurately dose firefighting systems using its latest fluorine-free foam concentrate for fires in underground or surface mining operations, as well as at industrial facilities.

“Critically beneficial is our ability to be able to test the foam and water premix immediately and accurately without discharging any foam concentrate into the environment. Only where there is a fire will the premix be discharged onto the fire area,” he adds.

Fire Protection as Environmental Protection

The use of wetting agents for A-class fire, and B-class foam concentrates, allows for the efficient extinguishing of fires, while the use of non-fluorinated fire-extinguishing solutions serve to protect the natural environment with no residual effects that would otherwise be present if older foam solutions were used.

Wetting agents reduce the need for firefighting systems having to use excessive volumes of water, as they add to the fire-suppressing application of water.

Further, he indicates that ESG metrics can be improved by coupling the fire protection products on offer from DoseTech Fire and FireDos with technologies such as early fire detection systems which have the ability to prevent and monitor fire outbreaks in an array of environments.

“Wherever you look, environmental protection and sustainability are moving up on many agendas . . . that is a good thing,” states Preiss.

However, to progress the firefighting industry, ESG goals and environmental protection further, development and testing of new systems and products must start immediately, with a focus on finding holistic solutions, he concludes.