Wildfire: Red slurry’s toxic dark side

June 17, 2012 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Pollution, Water, Wildfire, Wildlife

The hundreds of thousands of gallons of red slurry that air tankers are dropping on Colorado forests to shield mountain houses from wildfires has a downside: It is toxic. Laced with ammonia and nitrates, it has the potential to kill fish and taint water supplies.

Federal authorities say they’re implementing new rules prohibiting application of fire-retardant chemicals within 600 feet of waterways. Air tanker pilots and crew commanders now are required to carry maps that identify sensitive terrain — such as areas where greenback cutthroat trout and Pawnee montane skipper butterflies are monitored as sentinel species.

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Hayman fire, 10 years later: More forests being allowed to burn

June 7, 2012 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Wildfire

A decade-long move toward prescribed fires and forest-thinning has not reduced the risk of catastrophic wildfires along the Front Range, federal and state authorities say.

And firefighting commanders increasingly favor letting more forests burn — if people aren’t threatened — instead of mounting all-out assaults. They say it’s smarter to let some fires burn naturally because this can help prevent huge fires that ruin forest seed stocks and watersheds.

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