Questions raised about Iowa's ability to fight ethanol fires

Radio Iowa - A report in the media says many fire departments in Iowa and nationwide are apparently lagging behind when it comes to fighting fires that involve ethanol. The leader of the organization that trains Iowa firefighters says the concern over fighting ethanol fires shouldn't be exaggerated.

Randy Novak,s the bureau chief of the Iowa Fire Service Training Bureau, says first, the state is starting to do a lot more training of firefighters in fighting ethanol fires. Novak says the second issue is that fighting ethanol fires takes a different type of foam that is different than fighting other fires. Novak says most fire departments won't keep much of that foam on hand, but he says getting the foam to a fire would not be tough.