Forest fires, fighting

Anon, "Chemicals for Forest Fire Fighting , National Fite Protection Association, Boston, Mass (1963)... 

Use of Highly Stabilized High-Expansion Foams in Fighting Forest Fires... 

Foam use in regular fire-fighting, particularly in industrial situations, has been common for a number of years now. However, foam is a relative newcomer as a tool in combating forest and grassland fires. Wetting agents have been a standard in the field, used to "stretch" the available water supplies in situations where water is often at a premium. 

Large quantities of the ammonium phosphates are used as fertilizers and in fertilizer formulations as well as fire retardants in wood building materials, paper and fabric products, and in matches to prevent afterglow. Solutions of the ammonium phosphates sometimes are air-dropped to retard forest fires, serving the double purpose of fire fighting and fertilizing the soil to accelerate new plant growth. 

It is also used as "wetter" for fire fighting, particularly of forest fires. TRYCOL 5952 provides low re-wetting properties making it useful as a pad-bath penetrant in water and grease repellent applications. It is also a good emulsifier for polyethylene emulsions used in water repellent applications. 

Applications Their main application is as ammonium phosphates in fertilizers. In addition, they are used in fire protection e.g. as an additive in fire-extinguishing agents for fighting forest fires, as flame retardants in paper, textiles and poly(urethanes), in the prevention of afterglow in matches and as a component of intumescent paints (flame retarding coatings). They are also used in small quantities in animal nutrition, particularly for cattle. 

E.E. Little, R.D. Calfee (April, 2000). The Effects ofUVB Radiation on the Toxicity of Fire-fighting Chemicals to Fish and Amphibians (Report to the U.S. Forest Service Wildland Fire Chemical Systems Program). Missoula Technology Development Center, Missoula, Montana. 

Wildland firefighting is fighting forest fires, brush or bush fires, and fires in other undeveloped areas. 

Persons who must encounter forest vegetation when fighting forest fires are exposed to the same antigenic materials as forestrty workers, but they are usually not in a position to take time to identify the plants and avoid them. Reactions to poison ivy, oak and sumac are discussed by Epstein [145], and prevention methods are mentioned by Oltman [57]. 

Ammonium Sulfate [7723-20-2]. This is a very inexpensive water-soluble salt used as a paper or wood flame retardant. In combination with ammonium phosphates, it is used in fighting forest fires from the air. In cellulosics, its acidity can cause discoloration and strength loss, so it is usually used in disposable items such as temporary decorations. 

A forest fire developed around a nuclear facility at Cadarache, France [54]. Fire fighting aircraft were asked, as a first priority, to protect private properties outside the plant perimeter threatened by the fire instead of... 

In areas sensitive to forest fires, special attention should be given to the hazard posed by fire fighting airplanes in the assessment of the interaction of different external hazards. 

It is interesting to compare the quantities of tropical biomass burned with those due to fires in temperate and boreal forests. Although individual wildfires may be large, because of fire-fighting efforts, the area burned per year is relatively small. Stocks [24] estimates that about 8 million ha of temperate and boreal forests are subject to wildfires each year. 

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