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SoyFoam on display during AgroExpo

A retired firefighter says farm fires could have better outcomes if SoyFoam was used to fight them.  

Pat Butler says he’s made it his mission to get fire departments to stop using foams containing PFAS chemicals after surviving cancer following his 30-year career in the fire service.

“We gotta quit using this stuff because it’s bad for you,” he says. “It’s bad for the environment. It’s bad for our firefighters’ health.”

He says rural fire departments often rely on expansion foams to reduce the amount of water needed for calls to remote areas. Switching to the biodegradable foam, Butler says, could prevent forever chemical contamination.

“Say we have a barn we’re storing hay in, and it catches fire, if we go in and we spray the hay with the soy foam, put the fire out, the hay that got the overspray on it isn’t ruined,” he explains.

He says SoyFoam could also limit PFAS use on field fires and wildfires.

Butler and the Michigan Soybean Committee demonstrated the product with local firefighters this week at the AgroExpo in St. Johns, Michigan.