Among the many questions relating to the terrible fires underway in Los Angeles, many have asked: “Why is the water that the planes drop on Los Angeles red?”
First of all it is not water: it is a foam (sometimes even powder) and it is a so-called ”fire-retardant”i.e. a flame retardant.
What are fire retardants used for?
Their main function is not to put out the fire but is sprayed on the vegetation before it is hit by the flames, however limit and slow down the spread of a fire.
So it has a function of preventive protection and creates containment lines.
What is fire retardant generally made of?
What we see in the images of the Los Angeles fires is generally the so-called Phos-Chek (which can be either in powder or foam form); these are compounds based on:
Why is the fire-retardant red?
What’s the point of such a strong color? To be clearly visible both from the ground and in flight, e make evident the areas on which it has already been launched.
