RACE AGAINST TIME: Coordinating Fire Retardant Delivery to Combat Wildfires

By Shannon Horn

Wildfire seasons are evolving. As seen with the recent fires that devastated Los Angeles, wildfires are now a year-round threat.

These fires, and the active 2024 wildfire season demonstrated why rapid response and containment are so critical in helping to protect property and save lives.

The use of fire retardant is key in containing these fires, and it takes a well-coordinated effort to ensure that it is available and can be delivered where it is needed most. From securing the right materials to strategically placing distribution and manufacturing centers across vast regions, every step in the process requires precision and strong, strategic partnerships. With wildfire response teams relying on both fixed-wing aircraft and mobile retardant bases, streamlined logistics are crucial in getting fire retardant to the frontlines quickly. The challenge lies not only in having enough product on hand but also in ensuring that it can be deployed without delay, especially when every moment counts.

Enhancing Wildfire Defense with Fire Retardant

From the earliest days of aviation, the dream of battling wildfires from the sky has driven innovation in firefighting. While initial attempts to combat fires from above faced significant challenges, the dedication to protecting lives and property fueled a relentless pursuit of more effective solutions. This commitment led to decades of advancements, culminating in the highly sophisticated aerial firefighting operations we see today, where fire retardant plays a central role in maximizing effectiveness.

Today’s fixed-wing aircraft are the workhorses of aerial retardant delivery, capable of carrying thousands of gallons of retardant and covering large areas in a single drop. These aircraft are essential for strategic retardant placement, creating containment lines ahead of an advancing fire, protecting communities in their path, or reinforcing existing firebreaks. Their speed and efficiency allow for quick turnarounds between bases and fire zones, ensuring a steady supply of retardant reaches the frontlines.

Rotary-wing helicopters offer a different kind of advantage. While they carry smaller loads, they offer excellent maneuverability and can hover in place, allowing for greater application precision. Their smaller size allows them to get to hard-to-reach remote areas and provide targeted retardant drops, particularly in steep terrain or areas with structures where fixed-wing aircraft may not be the best option.

While aerial firefighting has traditionally been limited to daylight hours, advances in nighttime operations are changing that. In recent years, the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) and surrounding county fire departments have launched the Quick Reaction Force (QRF), demonstrating the effectiveness of 24-hour aerial firefighting. Using night-vision-equipped helicopters, these teams can continue retardant drops after dark, taking advantage of lower temperatures, reduced wind speeds, and decreased fire intensity. These conditions allow firefighters to slow the fire’s advance before conditions worsen in the daytime. Expanding nighttime firefighting capabilities could provide a critical advantage in wildfire suppression, allowing firefighters to get ahead of the fire to better protect communities before conditions worsen in the daytime.

Aerial drops are the most effective way to deliver fire retardant at scale; however, there are times when aircraft cannot fly due to dangerous conditions such as high winds, low visibility, or heavy smoke. When aerial operations are temporarily grounded, ground-based retardant application becomes a critical backup strategy. In these situations, mobile retardant bases (MRBs) and ground crews work to ensure retardant is still applied where it's needed, protecting critical infrastructure, homes, and other valuable assets. With enhanced precision you can’t get from the air, crews use specialized trucks and equipment to lay down retardant along roads, containment lines, and fire-prone areas, reinforcing the work done by aircraft once conditions allow them to resume flights.

By integrating aerial and ground-based application methods, firefighting teams can maximize the effectiveness of fire retardant under a variety of conditions, ensuring it remains a reliable tool even when the skies aren’t flyable.

Getting Fire Retardant Where It’s Needed

When a wildfire ignites, every second counts. Behind every successful wildfire response are the dedicated teams ensuring retardant is in the right place at the right time. By maintaining a well-coordinated supply network, they play a critical role in giving firefighters the resources they need to protect lives and property. But ensuring that retardant is where and when it’s needed is a complex logistical challenge—one that requires strategic planning, seamless coordination, and the ability to rapidly adapt to changing fire conditions. Decades of experience in aerial firefighting logistics have led to a resilient and diversified infrastructure, ensuring that fire retardant is always available when needed most. Multiple manufacturing and distribution centers across North America, along with a highly trained seasonal workforce, enable rapid response and uninterrupted service, even during peak wildfire season.

Fire retardant can’t simply be stockpiled at every potential fire location; it must be transported where and when it’s needed. To meet this demand, a network of manufacturing and distribution centers is strategically positioned across North America, ensuring that retardant can be delivered to more than 100 airbases within hours. However, maintaining a steady supply of fire retardant requires careful year-round planning. Analyzing data from previous fire seasons—including fire outbreaks, retardant usage, and order patterns—helps determine how much raw material to procure and how much retardant to produce. This proactive approach ensures that stock levels remain sufficient, preventing shortages even during periods of peak demand.

Beyond permanent airbases, MRBs add an extra layer of flexibility. MRBs are deployed when fires break out in areas that are difficult to reach or far from existing bases. These mobile operations allow retardant to be mixed and loaded closer to the fire line, reducing turnaround times for aerial firefighting aircraft. This capability is particularly valuable in fast-moving fire situations, where traditional supply routes may be too slow or unavailable.

Wildfires are unpredictable, and demand for fire retardant can surge within hours. To ensure a steady supply, logistics teams work around the clock, coordinating deliveries and managing transportation challenges such as limited trucking capacity and evolving fire conditions. The ability to quickly mobilize resources—whether by air or ground—ensures that firefighters have the support they need, exactly when and where they need it.

This intricate supply chain and rapid-response infrastructure are what enable fire retardant to play its critical role in wildfire containment. Without this distribution system, even the most advanced aerial firefighting efforts would be severely limited in their effectiveness.

Protecting People, Homes, and the Environment

Modern fire retardants are designed to be highly effective in wildfire suppression. The primary active ingredient in long-term fire retardants is ammonium phosphate, a compound widely used in agriculture. Once applied, fire retardant remains effective until it is removed by significant rainfall, at which point it breaks down and can act as a fertilizer for vegetation. To minimize any potential environmental impact, application guidelines include designated avoidance areas near waterways and sensitive habitats.

Fire retardants approved by the USFS do not contain intentionally added pre- or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) or other persistent chemicals, and the red color commonly seen in aerial drops comes from a fugitive dye that fades over time with UV exposure. This color helps ensure precise application, reducing redundant drops and improving efficiency.

As wildfires grow more intense and frequent, the ability to adapt and respond quickly is essential to successful fire management. Firefighting operations must be supported by a robust infrastructure that ensures fire retardant is consistently available, no matter the location. With continuous innovation and strategic planning, the industry remains committed to evolving our wildfire response to meet the growing threat and, ultimately, protect lives, property, and the environment.