Disclosed are fire extinguishants comprising from about 20% to about 80% by weight of 1-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene (HFO-1233zd) and from about 20% to about 80% by weight of 1,1,1,2,2,4,5,5,5-nonafluoro-4-(trifluoromethyl)-3-pentanone (FK5-1-12), and to methods, systems and containers which use the fire extinguishants.

Fire foam concentrates are provided that contain trimethyl glycine as a freeze suppressant, an effective amount of at least one anionic, zwitterionic or nonionic surfactant, and an effective amount of a foam stabilizing agent. Methods of preparing fire fighting foams from the concentrates, and methods of fighting fires using these foams, also are provided.

Aqueous film forming firefighting composition concentrates are provided that contain an effective amount of a monomeric zwitterionic or anionic C.sub.6 perfluoroalkyl surfactant having a molecule weight less than 800 daltons. The compositions also contain an effective amount of a foam stabilizing agent, and an effective amount of at least one non-fluorinated surfactant. The composition has less than 0.8% F, and is substantially free of any surfactant containing a perfluoroalkyl group containing more than 6 carbon atoms. The composition meets Military Specification MIL-F-24385F.

A method of proportioning a finished foam at or near a hazard comprising proportioning and delivering a first finished foam to the hazard, determining if the first finished foam extinguishes or suppresses the hazard, if not, selecting an amount of a fluorinated additive, and proportioning a foam solution including the selected amount of the fluorinated additive to form a fluorinated finished foam. A foam injection system is also disclosed.

Poly-perfluoroalkyl substituted polyethyleneimine compositions are provided that act as foam stabilizers and film formers when used in fire-fighting foam concentrates. The polyethylene compositions are soluble in water, but have only low solubility in polar solvents. When aqueous film forming foam generated from these concentrates is applied to burning polar solvent the polyethyleneimine compositions precipitate at the polar solvent/foam interface and inhibit the collapse and destruction of the foam.

It has been discovered that low molecular weight poly(ethyleneglycol) (PEG) can be used in place of diethylene glycol monobutyl ether (DGME) in fire foam concentrates without compromising the desirable properties provided by DGME. Surprisingly it has been found that lower molecular weight PEG with a weight average molecular weight Mw of 400 or less provides comparable performance to DGME with considerably lower toxicity. Use of this PEG permits preparation of fire foam concentrates that exclude DGME completely and that are less toxic than conventional DGME-containing concentrates.

Disclosed are fire extinguishants comprising from about 20% to about 80% by weight of 1-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene (HFO-1233zd) and from about 20% to about 80% by weight of 1,1,1,2,2,4,5,5,5-nonafluoro-4-(trifluoromethyl)-3-pentanone (FK5-1-12), and to methods, systems and containers which use the fire extinguishants.

New high molecular weight fluoropolymers (fluoropolymer surfactants) are provided that are useful in compositions for use as fire extinguishing concentrates. The fluoropolymers contain C.sub.4-C.sub.6 perfluoroalkyl groups, and substantially lack perfluoroalkyl groups containing more than 6 fluorine-substituted carbon atoms.

Novel fluorosurfactants are provided that contain perfluoroalkyl groups no longer than perfluorohexyl (C.sub.6). The surfactants are useful in the preparation of aqueous film forming foams (AFFF) and alcohol-resistant film-forming foams (AR-AFFF) for firefighting. Unexpectedly, these compounds have activity in AFFF and AR-AFFF applications that is comparable and even superior to conventional surfactants that contain perfluoroalkyl groups that are perfluorooctyl (C.sub.8) and longer. Also provided are methods of making the novel surfactants, as well as foam concentrates, methods of making foam and methods of fighting fires using foam containing the novel surfactants.

Provided are fire-fighting foam concentrate compositions incorporating multiple dye indicator agents, fire-fighting foams formed from said compositions, and to methods for evaluating fire-fighting foam concentrates. The compositions are useful as a complex anti-counterfeiting system and also allow for the differentiation of different types of authentic concentrates.