the Environment

The Environmental Cost of Conventional Fire Retardants

Ammonium phosphates have been the only long-term fire retardant (LTFR) chemicals qualified for use by the United States Forest Service for the last six decades. With the paucity of options, effective wildfire management has come at the cost of our wildland vegetation, our freshwater ecosystems, our aquatic wildlife, and the outsized carbon footprint of industrial-scale ammonium phosphate production. There’s also mounting evidence that conventional fire retardants, while effective in the short term, leave wildlands more fire-prone in the long-term by fertilizing flammable invasive plant species and reducing species diversity.

The environmental externalities of retardant use will only continue to amplify as we continue to observe an upward trend in wildfire activity in the United States and around the world.
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It’s time for a meaningful change in the technology that we depend on to keep fires in check.
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It’s time for us transition away from firefighting chemicals that are harmful to the environment.
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It’s time for a greener, safer, and more effective alternative to ammonium phosphate.

Our Environmental Objectives

Fortress is the only fire retardant provider that’s making the health of the planet an explicit part of our mission statement. We developed our unique magnesium chloride formulations knowing that they would address many of the environmental challenges posed by the current paradigm of widespread ammonium phosphate use.

Lower the carbon footprint of fire retardant manufacturing

Cease the fertilization of flammable invasive vegetation

Stop polluting our natural waters with phosphate and ammonium

Minimize the impact of fire retardant chemicals on fish and other aquatic wildlife

Reduce smoke emissions from wildfires

Read our environmental whitepapers for an in-depth review of the evidence.