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+--- Thread: Scientists found a ‘magical’ solution to fight dangerous zombie fires (/thread-9986.html)
Scientists found a ‘magical’ solution to fight dangerous zombie fires - C C - Mar 18, 2021
https://earther.gizmodo.com/scientists-found-a-magical-solution-to-fight-dangerou-1846499393
EXCERPTS: The rise of zombie fires is the latest iteration of climate horrors. [...] Zombie fires occur when summer blazes ignite in areas rich in flammable peat soil. As fall sets in, summer fires can continue to smolder in the peat later and even last through the winter under a thick layer of snow, reemerging once it melts. ... they’re also extremely difficult and resource-intensive to bring to an end.
Right now, firefighters require millions or even billions of gallons of water to quell one. [...] Due to surface tension, when water soaks into the ground, it tends to create tunnels through the soil rather than dispersing evenly, channeling water away from some hotspots.
But now, researchers have identified a new fire-suppressing material, and they say it could help firefighters to calm these zombie fires more quickly and reduce the amount of water required to do so by up to two-thirds. They presented their findings in a study in the International Journal of Wildland Fire last week.
[...] They landed on a product called Cold Fire, made by a firm called Fire Freeze. This stuff, the study suggests, really works. ... The firm claims the material poses no environmental risks to ecosystems or health risks for workers or wildlife. Cold Fire is a biodegradable “wetting agent”—or a substance that reduces the surface tension of a liquid in which it’s dissolved—to add to water. These agents, also known as surfectants, are widely used in many applications. For instance, they’re often added to laundry detergents to improve water’s ability to soak clothes evenly.
[...] Though there’s more work to be done, the team thinks their findings could revolutionize how firefighters suppress zombie peat fires, which would be welcome news for the climate. Some of these zombie peat fires constitute the largest fires the planet has ever seen... (MORE - details)