With most of California under severe drought conditions, the fire season is starting early this year. Preventive measures are on almost every homeowner's mind.

Of course, we are all familiar with creating defensive space by trimming trees, clearing rain gutters, and keeping grasses low. Over the coming months, we will periodically offer additional insights into wildland fire and what you can do as a homeowner.

We recently learned of a compressed foam system that takes fire prevention to a whole new level!

David Mahrt, a former helicopter pilot in Vietnam and a Forest Service contract fire suppression pilot for over 20 years, founded Kingsway Industries Inc. of Redding, California, to fight fires more effectively before the professionals arrive. David has outfitted the US Army, Cal Fire, US Forest Service, most California Police Aviation Organizations as well as US Border Patrol, NASA, Homeland Defense, US Customs, and a great many Fire Departments all over the USA. The Tri-Max CAFS have been installed into many heavy logging vehicles which prevented 4 wildland fires last year. Now, their fire suppression products are entering the residential sector. Our listing at 59431 Garrapatos installed one of his very first systems.

Tri-Max units combine a chemical mix, water, and compressed air to produce a high-volume foam that can be applied directly to the base of a fire or can be sprayed on a home as a fire approaches. Their units typically run on a 20:1 ratio. For example, the TMS-400 has a 400-gallon tank that discharges 8,000 gallons of finished foam. The tank can be reloaded with water and chemical and fired four times before refilling the compressed air tanks for a total of 32,000 gallons of foam. It is capable of pumping foam up a steep slope in excess of approximately 500 feet.

In simple terms, one would use this system as a proactive measure when threatened by falling embers from a nearby fire or right before evacuating. Depending on the outside temperature, the foam will coat the structure for several hours. There are also standard NFPA sprinklers that can use foam instead of water causing much less damage to the contents inside your home versus a water-only extinguisher or a sprinkler system.

David's team of engineers and firefighters assess the site, the structures, and the defensive space, to develop a property-specific plan. Furthermore, placing a "TRIMAX CAF system" sign at your property will notify Cal-Fire that the Tri-Max products are available for them to use as an additional resource as David has personally trained members of Cal-Fire on his products. Not to mention, Cal Fire has equipped all of their Air Tanker Bases and Helitack Bases with Tri-Max 30's and Tri-Max 3's.

The photo above shows a recent training session at a newly installed system in Carmel's Jack Peak neighborhood. A tractor can move the trailer-mounted system throughout their property.

One telling testimony of the Tri-Max's ability was during the Humboldt fire. A homeowner foamed the vegetation around their home, a wood storage shed (containing POL products that were used in servicing their logging equipment located there), and their home before evacuating. When they returned, they were amazed to find that everything they sprayed with their Tri-Max system was unburnt; the fire had "stopped dead in its tracks".

For more information on Tri-Max and its products, please visit their website at www.trimax.us.

Written in collaboration by Courtney Jones, REALTOR® at Carmel Realty Company; Malone Hodges, Associate Broker at Carmel Realty Company and former US Forest Service firefighter; and David Mahrt, owner of Kingsway Industries and Tri-Max Fire Suppression Products.