Dave Garlie, managing partner at Cross Plains Solutions, wants to use his skills in chemistry to help his community and others across the country. Garlie was presented with a problem by the New York Fire Department: they needed a training foam that was not only environmentally sustainable but also safe for firefighters to use.
PFAS, a group of synthetic chemicals, is one of the prime components of the current firefighting foam. But firemen like Chris Turner, leading technician at CVTC Fire Safety Center, have asked for a foam that is safe for the firemen to dump into the environment.
That is when Garlie stepped in. He came across soybeans, a plant that not many people would think of turning into a fire fighting foam.
With the help of Turner, Cross Plains created SoyFoam, which contains ingredients of soy meal and soy flour, and is officially biodegradable. The SoyFoam can extinguish a 28-square-foot fire within 30 seconds, trials have shown.
Garlie goes on to say, “I’m not a fireman, so I can’t put out the fire, but maybe I can do my small part to provide the chemistry that gives our firemen a better environment to work in, a safer environment to work in.”
