NJFFSA16
06-07-2002, 05:24 AM
A little background on the popular fire retardant
PHOENIX (AP) - An early and intense wildfire season in the West
is becoming a bonanza for the Phoenix company that manufactures the
bright red fire retardant slurry that is dropped on flames from the
belly of aerial tankers.
Fire-Trol Holdings LLC of Phoenix sold about 20 million gallons
across the country in 2001, and is running far ahead of that this
year, said Robert Crouch, Fire-Trol's research and development
manager.
"We're way ahead. There's one single air tanker base in Sierra
Vista (Ariz.) that's used 2 million gallons alone, and that's about
10 times their annual average," he said. "We anticipate an
unusually severe fire season."
Crouch said the company takes no joy in the fires - "We'd
rather see fire prevention," he said - but acknowledges that it
means boom times for his company.
Fire-Trol has contracts with such agencies as the U.S. Forest
Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the state of California
to churn out the concentrated mix of chemical fertilizer that is
then added to water to make retardant.
"It changes the way the fire burns," Crouch explained.
"When these fertilizers decompose at the temperature of the
fire, it actually reduces the amount of flammable gases the fire
gives off. And that's what retards the combustion.
"There's a chemical reaction that goes on between the retardant
and the wood. This increases the amount of charcoal and decreases
the amount of flammable material thus retarding the fire, cooling
it down and inhibiting its spread."
"It's definitely superior to water," Crouch said. "And If it
doesn't do its job as a retardant it'll promote plant growth after
the fire has been put out," he said. "It's just like applying
fertilizer to your yard."
As with lawn fertilizer, slurry should not be dumped in streams
and lakes because the ammonia in it is toxic for fish and wildlife.
"The Forest Service is well aware of that," Crouch said.
"They take extreme steps to keep it out of water."
Its red color, however, is nothing more than rust, chemically
known as iron oxide.
In wilderness areas, the red residue will be absorbed into the
soil while homeowners usually wash it off, Crouch said. "In a few
weeks or a month, you won't know it's there."
Fire-Trol and St. Louis-based Astaris LLC are the Forest
Service's main retardant suppliers, said Frank Gomez, the agency's
contracting officer. Each company has a one-year contract with two
renewal options to supply air bases around the country with
retardant as needed. The retardant sells for about $800 a ton.
"The requirement is they provide product for that base's
demands to support a fire in that area. There really is no cap,"
Gomez said.
And this year, with tinder-dry forests throughout the Southwest,
slurry suppliers already are seeing unusually high demand.
Fire-retardant-dropping aircraft have helped battle blazes in
the last week throughout parts of California, Arizona, Colorado and
New Mexico.
"At the present time, it would not be unreasonable to say we're
expecting above-average demand" for fire retardant in the
Southwest, said George Roby, agency liaison for Ontario,
Calif.-based Phos-Check, whose parent company is Astaris. "Fires
are burning with the intensity of fires later in the summer."
In Canon City, Colo., where at least 88 homes and more than 100
barns, sheds and outbuildings were destroyed, crews were close to
running out of retardant on June 2 and had to have more trucked in
from Fire-Trol, said Karina Johnson, manager at the Pueblo air
tanker base.
"I heard that we pumped more retardant in that day than the
base had the entire year before," she said.
Air tankers there have already dumped more than 138,240 gallons
of slurry this year and ordered another 24,000 gallons, which is
enough to make 150,000 gallons when mixed with water.
At a southern Arizona wildfire that burned 30,500 acres by
Thursday, crews dumped 1.2 million gallons of retardant.
The nature of that fire demanded that air crews drop slurry
because the deep and dangerous terrain was too difficult for ground
crews to enter, said Danny Randall, a BLM spokesman.
An air tanker base in Cedar City, Utah, has used 178,459 gallons
of retardant so far this year, said spokeswoman Deb Bowen. This
time last year, the base hadn't used any, she said.
(Copyright 1379 by The Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) - An early and intense wildfire season in the West
is becoming a bonanza for the Phoenix company that manufactures the
bright red fire retardant slurry that is dropped on flames from the
belly of aerial tankers.
Fire-Trol Holdings LLC of Phoenix sold about 20 million gallons
across the country in 2001, and is running far ahead of that this
year, said Robert Crouch, Fire-Trol's research and development
manager.
"We're way ahead. There's one single air tanker base in Sierra
Vista (Ariz.) that's used 2 million gallons alone, and that's about
10 times their annual average," he said. "We anticipate an
unusually severe fire season."
Crouch said the company takes no joy in the fires - "We'd
rather see fire prevention," he said - but acknowledges that it
means boom times for his company.
Fire-Trol has contracts with such agencies as the U.S. Forest
Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the state of California
to churn out the concentrated mix of chemical fertilizer that is
then added to water to make retardant.
"It changes the way the fire burns," Crouch explained.
"When these fertilizers decompose at the temperature of the
fire, it actually reduces the amount of flammable gases the fire
gives off. And that's what retards the combustion.
"There's a chemical reaction that goes on between the retardant
and the wood. This increases the amount of charcoal and decreases
the amount of flammable material thus retarding the fire, cooling
it down and inhibiting its spread."
"It's definitely superior to water," Crouch said. "And If it
doesn't do its job as a retardant it'll promote plant growth after
the fire has been put out," he said. "It's just like applying
fertilizer to your yard."
As with lawn fertilizer, slurry should not be dumped in streams
and lakes because the ammonia in it is toxic for fish and wildlife.
"The Forest Service is well aware of that," Crouch said.
"They take extreme steps to keep it out of water."
Its red color, however, is nothing more than rust, chemically
known as iron oxide.
In wilderness areas, the red residue will be absorbed into the
soil while homeowners usually wash it off, Crouch said. "In a few
weeks or a month, you won't know it's there."
Fire-Trol and St. Louis-based Astaris LLC are the Forest
Service's main retardant suppliers, said Frank Gomez, the agency's
contracting officer. Each company has a one-year contract with two
renewal options to supply air bases around the country with
retardant as needed. The retardant sells for about $800 a ton.
"The requirement is they provide product for that base's
demands to support a fire in that area. There really is no cap,"
Gomez said.
And this year, with tinder-dry forests throughout the Southwest,
slurry suppliers already are seeing unusually high demand.
Fire-retardant-dropping aircraft have helped battle blazes in
the last week throughout parts of California, Arizona, Colorado and
New Mexico.
"At the present time, it would not be unreasonable to say we're
expecting above-average demand" for fire retardant in the
Southwest, said George Roby, agency liaison for Ontario,
Calif.-based Phos-Check, whose parent company is Astaris. "Fires
are burning with the intensity of fires later in the summer."
In Canon City, Colo., where at least 88 homes and more than 100
barns, sheds and outbuildings were destroyed, crews were close to
running out of retardant on June 2 and had to have more trucked in
from Fire-Trol, said Karina Johnson, manager at the Pueblo air
tanker base.
"I heard that we pumped more retardant in that day than the
base had the entire year before," she said.
Air tankers there have already dumped more than 138,240 gallons
of slurry this year and ordered another 24,000 gallons, which is
enough to make 150,000 gallons when mixed with water.
At a southern Arizona wildfire that burned 30,500 acres by
Thursday, crews dumped 1.2 million gallons of retardant.
The nature of that fire demanded that air crews drop slurry
because the deep and dangerous terrain was too difficult for ground
crews to enter, said Danny Randall, a BLM spokesman.
An air tanker base in Cedar City, Utah, has used 178,459 gallons
of retardant so far this year, said spokeswoman Deb Bowen. This
time last year, the base hadn't used any, she said.
(Copyright 1379 by The Associated Press