To contain the devastating Los Angeles fires, firefighters poured a powder whose fluorescent pink color attracts the eye. This agent, called PHOS-Chek, serves as a benchmark for dropping water.
The County of Los Angeles, devastated by more than a week of firewas almost completely covered with a fluorescent pink powder. The plans have dropped thousands of cubic meters of this substance, covering homes and cars.
This is an agent called Phos-Chek, whose main function is to delay the flames. The product has also been used by the Forest Service since the 1960s. Actu.fr.
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Phos-Chek, “easy to see”
This material, which contrasts the decor of gray feathers and calcined landscapes where the City of Angels has been toppled for several days, allows pilots to ensure that they do not leave uncovered areas above the flames.
Normally, pilots have to drop water by identifying “The Brilliant and the Dark,” specifies Daniel McCurry, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California, quoted by our colleagues. A company became more difficult than a benchmark with increasing visual aid.
Another advantage of its use: the Phos-Chek makes the surface it covers “inflammable”, according to commercial site perimeter solutions, which slows and prevents the spread of fire.
A product that is no exception to controversy
However, Chef-Phos has regularly been highlighted for its negative impact on the environment. In 2022, the Forest Service environmental ethics staff, composed of former U.S. Forest Service agents, accused the American federal agency of resorting to a chemical without efficiency and being harmful to fishing waters affected by Canada.
The quality of water containing flame retardant chemicals obviously raises questions about its environmental impact, especially when poured into forests. A year later, the American judiciary gave these employees reason without banning their use, the states BBC.
The flames that engulfed the second city in the United States left at least 24 people dead. The damage is extensive: more than 12,000 houses, buildings And vehicles were charred. These fires could be the most expensive Never recorded in the United States.