[Az-Geocaching] 4th of July

[Fred Coe]

Jim,

The fire retardant is probably  Phoscheck (I'm not sure of the spelling) and
is made by Monsanto.

There is a large ammonia component to it.  It has a sticky pancake batter
consistency.  It comes as a dry powder that is mixed with water at a tanker
base.  When ready it weighs about 10 lbs/gallon.  When dropped it hits the
ground not in a fine mist, but rather in clumps, some about the size of
softball.  Depending on terrain and aircraft, it is usually dropped from a
couple hundred feet and speed of around 120 MPH.  It is designed to stick to
vegetation and persist for several weeks.  The color is added so it can be
seen from altitude.  It is a fugitive dye and will slowly fade from exposure
over a few months.

I've been 'bombed' twice (on the same day in 1987!).  It is not a pleasant
experience--kinda like having a berserk pitching machine throwing fast balls
at you and connecting.  I don't recommend it.  In recent years being hit by
a retardant drop has been called 'being slimed' by wildland firefighters,
who were probably 'Ghostbusters' fans.  A direct hit from low altitude at
higher speeds can destroy a 2 1/2 ton truck.

If they are using retardant rather than foam on houses/structures the drops
are probably from a higher altitude at speeds designed to disperse the
retardant more than normal.  Some A/C (the heavy helicopters for instance)
have on-board foaming units and can drop foam.

When vehicles are 'slimed' we are directed to wash them asap.  The retardant
is somewhat corosive.  I'm not sure of the effect on a house, although I'd
want to get it off quickly.  I suspect that they may already have plans to
wash down houses that were slimed.

--Fred
Team Boulder Creek

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Scotti" <jscotti@jupiter.lpl.Arizona.EDU>
To: <listserv@azgeocaching.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2002 12:59 PM
Subject: Re: [Az-Geocaching] 4th of July


> Hey Bill,
>    Don't you have a new Geocache on your property too (if I read the cache
> page correctly...)?  I might just have to make some plans, if I can
convince
> the family to tag along with all my "geeky" geocaching friends, that
is....
> (and they have met some of you out at Sus!... :-) )  Last July 4 we were
up
> in Show Low watching the fireworks at their High School which is now the
> equipment staging site for the Rodeo-Chediski fire this year.  Luckily, my
> mother-in-law's cabin south of Show Low is still standing (as far as we
> know).  I expect we'll be spending some time up there in a few weeks doing
> some cleanup or whatever once this fire is completely suppressed.  They've
> supposedly been "painting the neighborhoods" with slurry the last couple
of
> days - what is that stuff like a few weeks after being dropped?
>
> Jim.
>
> Jim Scotti
> Lunar & Planetary Laboratory         jscotti@pirl.lpl.arizona.edu
> University of Arizona
> Tucson, AZ 85721 USA                 http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~jscotti/
>
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