Carbon County's firefighters are now better equipped when it comes to fighting flammable liquid fires.

That's because the Carbon County Local Emergency Planning Committee recently purchased two high expansion foam generators for the county foam task force at a cost of $17,949.07. The generators will replace two older models that the county has used for decades.A high expansion foam generator is designed to create 350-600 gallons of high expansion foam for every one gallon of solution. Foam generators are used in a number of emergencies, including flammable liquid fires and confined spaces where fire hoses can't reach easily.Robert Miller, chairman of the LEPC, said that the two generators will go to Nesquehoning Hose Company No. 1 and the Lehighton Fire Department."The ones they had were outdated and we couldn't get parts for them," Miller said, noting that the purchase was possible through state grants, as well as chemical fees that the LEPC receives.Mark Nalesnik, Carbon County Emergency Management Agency coordinator and a member of the Nesquehoning Hose Company, said that the old generators were used for various emergencies, and quite often in trainings.Carbon County Commissioner Wayne Nothstein, who is a Lehighton volunteer firefighter, explained how the generator works and thanked the LEPC for providing these for the two departments.John McArdle, Nesquehoning Hose Company fire chief, said this project has been in the works for a year, when the two departments asked for the LEPC's help. The current foam generators that the two departments use to fight fires within the county were made in the mid-1960s."The foam generators have served their usefulness," McArdle said.Both organizations, along with Weatherly, Mahoning and Penn Forest 1 fire companies comprise the Carbon County Foam Task Force.McArdle said foam banks and equipment are stored at the fire stations and the task force responds to petroleum-based emergencies throughout the county.The foam generators have been used in a number of emergencies, including one in 2010 when a four-unit condominium caught fire near the Galleria at Split Rock Resort in Lake Harmony, Kidder Township.At that fire, foam was used to fill the basements and smother the flames.