Load Options

 There are several load options when it comes to Aerial Firefighting and all have their own benefits: suppressant, long-term fire retardant, water enhancers, and water. A suppressant is an agent, like water or foam, that is used to extinguish the fire by applying it directly to the burning fuel. A retardant is a substance or chemical agent which reduces the flammability of combustibles. Water enhancers contain ingredients that alter the physical characteristics of water to increase its effectiveness. Water is just plain old high-quality H2O.

One of the more popular forms of suppressant is Class A Foam Suppression. With foam for wildfire suppressants, there are four types: foam solution, wet foam, fluid foam, and dry foam. There are three components to this: foam concentrate, water, and air. This extinguishes fire by cooling and smothering the flames. This increases the effectiveness and extends the useful life of water. It provides a short-term fire barrier and can help reduce suppression and mop-up time. It’s also relatively easy to use and can be seen from the air.

Class A Foam being used on a wildfire.

Long-term retardants contain retardant salts – which are typically agricultural fertilizers. This ingredient alters the way a fire burns, decreases the intensity, and slows the advance of the fire – even after the water evaporates. The main brand of fire retardant is Phos-Chek, there are three different types of Phos-Chek: dry concentrate, wet concentrate, and pretreatment. They may be colored with iron oxide (remains visible until weathering removes it), fugitive pigments (visible for several weeks until sunlight causes it to fade or weathering) or be uncolored. Retardant provides cooling, smothering, and insulating.

Phos-Chek being used on a wildfire.

Water enhancers rely primarily on the water it contains for firefighting. They contain polymers or other thickeners to improve performance by aiding in adherence to fuels, build up a thick protective wet layer and minimize drift during aerial applications. These products are a concentrate that is mixed with water and could be uncolored or colored. Some brands of water enhancers are Barricade, Thermo-Gel, Firewall, Blazetamer, Phos-Chek, EarthClean, and FireIce. We use FireIce HVO-F at both tanker bases in Pennsylvania.

BlazeTamer being used on a wildfire.

Before we move on to water, let’s talk about FireIce HVO-F. HVO-F is High Visibility Orange – Fugitive. This colorant makes it the most visible fire chemical used in aerial applications. It can also be used as both a suppressant and a retardant. There is also a certain type of polymer in FireIce HVO-F that gives it the effectiveness of 2 hours to almost 12 hours. The colorant also pulls double duty as an indicator of the usefulness of the product once it is on the ground. If it can no longer be seen from the air, then it is considered no longer effective. “FireIce HVO-F is environmentally friendly and is safe to use around sensitive aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems” (GelTech Solutions). The polymers and additives break down naturally over time and with UV exposure.

FireIce being used on a wildfire.

While water’s effectiveness is short-lived it is still an effective tool to use in firefighting. Here in Pennsylvania, we have Helicopters with Bambi Buckets which dip into a water source and then drop around fires. Fun fact: Bambi Buckets were used in 2011 to cool nuclear reactors in Japan after damage from a tsunami (CTV News).

Speaking of helicopters; there are some options when it comes to helicopters and their drops as well. You aren’t limited to just water. We can use FireIce with our helicopters here in Pennsylvania. For this application, we use FireIce 561, which has no colorant and is still a viable option for areas with sensitive ecosystems. For this, we mix the FireIce 561 the same way as the HVO-F and dispense it into a large dip tank for the helicopter to dip out of.