Can firefighters use ocean water to douse wildfire blazes?
(NEXSTAR) – Footage of a firefighting plane picking up water from the Pacific Ocean to beat back the wildfires currently burning in Los Angeles has only added fuel to a debate taking place among onlookers on social media: Should we be using seawater to douse the flames?
“I'm really confused. Can't they use ocean water to put out the fires?” one X user from Canada asked Thursday. “How is the ground so dry with that much water[?]”
As demonstrated in the aforementioned footage — which has been published by Nexstar’s KTLA, among other outlets — yes, firefighters can use seawater to put out fires. But it’s not exactly as simple, safe, or environmentally friendly, experts have said.
For starters, seawater can pose problems for firefighting equipment, potentially corroding plane parts, pumps and pipes. But, as Capt. Larry Kurtz of the Orange County Fire Authority told the Orange County Register this week, that might not be the major concern.
Kurtz noted that while seawater can be “tough” on firefighting equipment, the risk of corrosion could be mitigated by flushing out the systems. (The National Fire Projection Agency, in a statement to Nexstar, also said that fire agencies using saltwater routinely flush their equipment for this reason.)
Kurtz, instead, said scooping water from a large (and potentially swelling) body of water poses a significant safety issue for firefighting planes and personnel.
“I’m sure you could imagine what could happen if an extra-large swell or rough wave suddenly struck the side of the aircraft. The lakes and reservoirs are much safer (and for most brush fires, a lot closer) than our Pacific Ocean,” he told the Orange County Register.
Kurtz did indicate, however, that it also doesn’t make as much sense to use seawater in a distribution grid (like those that provide water to hydrants), possibly over the water’s corrosive nature. Seawater, he said, would instead have to be transported via truck to a holding pool for use when fires occur, in many cases.
Other reasons against the widespread use of saltwater in firefighting scenarios concern the potentially detrimental effects of seawater on vegetation and the ecosystem, researchers have pointed out. It can take years for soil inundated with seawater to return to its original makeup or pH, putting stress on existing vegetation and hampering future growth, as noted by scientists studying post-fire conditions in a region of Croatia where saltwater is more readily used to fight wildfires.
In times of emergency, however, fire authorities have — and do — use saltwater to extinguish wildfires.
“This includes fireboats or departments that may be located near saltwater and can draft it from an ocean source,” a spokesperson for the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) told Nexstar.
“However, those that do typically have plans or standard operating procedures/guidelines for how to use it,” the spokesperson added.
The large wildfires currently burning in Los Angeles have already killed 10 people and destroyed over 10,000 structures as of Friday, officials said. A new fire, the Kenneth Fire, was one of the latest to break out in the area on Thursday, scorching parts of the San Fernando Valley.