The Fire Retardant being used in California fires

[CathyA]

I realize they probably have to use this stuff, but I wonder what effects it has on the ground/water/air? Sounds like they've used more than ever this year.

[bae]

"It depends".

http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/retardant/eis_info.html

[Packy]

I haven't got time to read all that, and try and figure out the bureaucratese. So, I'll take a wild guess. It retards the fire, so there is less smoke and ash going airborne. Plus, the bunnies and the deer are not losing their habitat. And those foolish Callifornians are not losing their impractical dream homes. At least I hope it is working out that way. So, it's a fair trade-off, don't you think? A case where a little pollution might be a far lesser evil?

[mschrisgo2]

Totally of topic- but I'm just wondering why every post Packy makes contains some sort of put-down? In this case, "... foolish Callifornians [sic] ... their impractical dream homes."

OK - back on topic- Bae, thank you so much for posting that! I've often wondered myself, and didn't have enough knowledge to go about find the answers.

[CathyA]

Well, it is pretty hard to wade through all those links..........plus, I'm not sure it really even answers my questions. Time will tell how deleterious the chemicals are to the environment (air/soil/water).

[bae]

All you have to do is click on the first one on that page, it is the final report, as ordered by the court. The rest is the supporting info.

And I stick to my answer of "it depends" - some months ago I discharged a bunch of foam into an environmentally sensitive estuary. The alternative was to evacuate everyone for 1/2 mile, and watch 100+ large boats and tens of thousands of gallons of fuels and hazmat burn and end up in that same estuary.

[Spartana]

Well, it is pretty hard to wade through all those links..........plus, I'm not sure it really even answers my questions. Time will tell how deleterious the chemicals are to the environment (air/soil/water).

I didn't look at the links yet but if you are talking about the pink/red fire retardant used on big wildfires that is usually something called PhosCheck - and yes, it is an environmental hazard. It has a high level of phosphate (or maybe it's phosphorus) in it which can burn vegetation and, if washed off by rain or gets into the watershed, can cause harm to marine life as well as damage to sewer treatment plants if it gets into the sewer system. So I imagine it can also be harmful to humans and other animals if inhaled or if it gets on the skin. But, while it seems like they use a lot if the stuff, it's generally in areas that are pretty remote (and the remnants can become diluted enough over time) to not be a problem. And even if it is used near people or gets into the watershed/on vegetation, it's still much less harmful and destructive then a fire, and the resulting possible toxic smoke and ash from burning homes and all the toxic stuff that are in homes and are used to build home. The foam stuff however, like Bae used for the (probably?) oil or gas fire to smother it, is safe and biodegradable. That's we used in the CG for oil fires on the water, on docks, oil rigs, and in our engine room and it was safe for the most part. Halon is also another chemical that is used to fight certain types of fires but not something used in large doses.