MAFFS Mission Report

July 7th, 2008

Today’s Topic: What makes the rain red?

Anyone who has witnessed an airtanker drop in person or seen it on the evening news probably has noticed the unmistakable bright red fire retardant. The primary reason that water, alone, is not used is so the fire will hopefully cool down long enough for ground crews to come in and directly fight the fire. Straight water would evaporate from the heat of the fire much quicker.

The reason that the retardant is brightly colored is so the airtanker pilot can determine where the last drop was made and where to drop their next load to continue the retardant fireline. Chemically, the material will not harm the vegetation and the airtanker pilots make their drops to avoid lakes and streams.

Nowadays, the retardant that is used is sold as Phos-Chek® and is delivered to the MAFFS tanker base on large trucks that carry 22 tons at a time. Sometimes two truckloads are needed in one day of flying sorties. That adds up to more than 70,000 gallons, once the powder is mixed to about 80% water.

The Phos-Chek® comes in huge white plastic containers called “Phos-bins.” Two hoses are connected; the smaller one blows air to loosen the powder and the larger one sucks the powder into the mixing truck. Each bin weighs one ton and makes 1,786 gallons of retardant.

The retardant can be loaded into the MAFFS aircraft up to 21,000 gallons per hour. That keeps the pit crews on the run. Master Staff Sergeant Heldwin Brito, from Colorado Springs, says, “It’s like zero and then BOOF!”

Firefighters on the ground know when it rains red retardant they should be able to work more safely.

One of the men who mixes the material, Vince Daniel, even said, “We learned our product worked when we once fought a dragon with it!”