Raging LA Fires Fight Back with ‘Pink’ Retardant – Will It Save the City? 

Raging LA Fires Fight Back with 'Pink' Retardant – Will It Save the City? Credit | Getty
Raging LA Fires Fight Back with 'Pink' Retardant – Will It Save the City? Credit | Getty

United States: The latest reports suggest that the aircraft struggling with raging fires across Los Angeles are dropping more than water, which is hundreds of thousands of gallons of hot-pink fire suppressant, in front of the tongues of flames in order to try to halt them before they engulf more districts. 

More about the news 

Fires have claimed the lives of at least 24, uprooted thousands of people, and razed over 12,000 buildings since the outbreaks last Tuesday. 

Windblown flames that have included four fires related to the fiercely potent Santa Ana winds have blackened roughly 62 square miles (160 square kilometers) of land, largely in Northern California, as per Cal Fire. 

Fire agencies argue that suppressants – preferably used in forest fires – are one of the most effective tools, CNN reported. 

Raging LA Fires Fight Back with 'Pink' Retardant – Will It Save the City? Credit | AP
Raging LA Fires Fight Back with ‘Pink’ Retardant – Will It Save the City? Credit | AP

According to Cal Fire, the fires are racing through canyons and other difficult terrain that often can bog down ground firefighters. 

What more are the experts stating? 

The officials explain that while fire suppressants could prove effective, they have several limitations as well. 

Such as, strong winds are too risky to be flown at the low altitude normally employed for drops, and the winds can also blow away the retardant before the latter touches the ground. 

In addition to Cal Fire, other agencies have dropped fire retardant and water: US Forest Service, Los Angeles and Ventura County fire departments, city, and National Guard. 

Raging LA Fires Fight Back with 'Pink' Retardant – Will It Save the City? Credit | AP
Raging LA Fires Fight Back with ‘Pink’ Retardant – Will It Save the City? Credit | AP

As per Daniel McCurry, a civil and environmental engineering professor at the University of Southern California, aerial fire suppressants are typically water, ammonium phosphate, which is fertilizer really, and iron oxide is put in it so it will be visible, CNN reported. 

The Forest Service, which has employed 13 aircraft to discharge suppressants on the Los Angeles fires, asserts that they limit a fire’s access to oxygen and reduce the pace at which a fire burns by cooling and building a layer on the vegetation and other kinds of surface. 

The company Perimeter, which provides flame resistance to the Forest Service and other comparable organizations, says that the phosphate alters the scope of the cellulose in plants and makes them non-flammable.