During the aerial response to forest fires, airplanes and helicopters leave a red mixture on the ground. What exactly is this mixture, why is it red, and what does it do?
With the coming of the summer months and the warming of the weather, an agenda that hurts us has emerged again; Forest fires. The rescue role in these fires, which spread over large areas in a short time and turned hectares of land into ash, is aerial intervention, which is one of the most effective intervention methods.
A remarkable detail emerges in the images of the aerial interventions; aircraft and helicopters left in the fire zone a red mix. So what is in this mixture, why is it preferred, why is its color red?
Red mixture, one of many chemicals used in firefighting
This red mixture, which is included in the group referred to as fire retardants, is predominantly phosphate and sulfate group chemicals consists of water. It gets its red color from some added coloring chemicals.
Why is this chemical mixture used instead of water?
In large-scale and rapidly spreading fires, preventing the fire from spreading to larger areas, slowing down flames and reducing their intensity Chemical mixtures are preferred for These mixtures, in the simplest definition, release water vapor into the atmosphere with the chemical reactions they occur, reduce the temperature and acting as a blanket It prevents the spread of fire by cutting contact with oxygen.
So why is the color red preferred?
As you know, fires can be intervened from both land and air at the same time. Your teams understand which area is being intervened and red color is preferred so that the studies can progress more systematically. This gives the teams information about which area was intervened at that moment.
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