As crews battle fires in Los Angeles, the hot pink fire retardant they’ve dropped to stall the flames’ advance has become one of the striking visuals to come out of the disaster.
Covering buildings, cars, streets, and plants, its bright color isn’t happenstance—say, some unintentional by-product of the material’s chemical compounds. It’s intentional. That’s because the electric hue serves a strategic purpose: It’s easy for fire crews to see.
“The added red coloring allows pilots to see where fire retardant had previously been dropped, so that they could create continuous fire lines and improve containment of active wildfires,” says Jeff Emery, president of global fire safety at Perimeter Solutions, which produces fire retardants for planes, helicopters, and on-the-ground application. The company produced all the fire retardant being used to fight the ongoing Los Angeles fires.
“In addition to helping pilots create continuous fire lines, it reduces the risk of redundant drops, making firefighting efforts more efficient and conserving resources,” Emery says.
Fire retardants decrease a fire’s intensity and slow its advance by depriving it of oxygen and slowing the rate of fuel combustion, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Perimeter Solutions selected the specific color that crews are using “after extensive testing and through feedback from the pilots regarding the optimal visibility from the air,” Emery says. And it won’t stay that color forever. Over time and with exposure to UV light, the color fades.
Online, some have falsely claimed that fire retardant isn’t safe, Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone said during a press briefing, noting that it is not only effective but also safe. “I know that there’s been some social media postings that it is not,” Marrone said. “I consider that the sinister side of social media.”
Hundreds of thousands of gallons of the substance have been dropped across the Los Angeles area in an effort to preempt flames from extending beyond the 60 square miles they’ve already burned, and ahead of strong winds expected today.
