Click on the green play button to see a video of the foam in use.

The winter-wonderland appearance has been created by compressed air foam, something the town's fire crews have been using to tackle fires as part of a trial.

Compressed air foam can extinguish fire faster than water.

It uses substantially less water than a traditional hose reel, enables firefighters to stay safer distances away from fires and can prevent fire from spreading thanks to its fire retardant properties.

As part of a West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service trial, Worthing and Crawley fire stations have been equipped with one fire engine each which has the compressed air foam system (CAFS), worth £20,000 to £30,000, on board.

Very effective

"It's a relatively new form of extinguishing media and it's proving to be very effective," said Worthing watch commander Darren Wickings.

"We've used it to tackle real fires quite a few times and all the Worthing fire crew are now trained to use it."

To put out a car fire, 1,000 litres of water would be used, compared with just 100 litres using the CAFS.

This is because 85 per cent of the foam is air and the rest is a mixture of water and foam solution.

Biodegradable

"Using less water makes the system very environmentally friendly and it means less water runs off into drains," explained Mr Wickings.

"It is biodegradable and can disintegrate in as little as a few hours depending on weather conditions."

Air foam gives a significantly longer "throw" than water, meaning crews can keep a further, safer distance away from the fire.

The reduction in the amount of water used also means less water damage to buildings.

Another benefit is the light weight of the foam, which makes hose reels far easier to manoeuvre and negotiate than water-laden reels.


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