Research on the Use of Tuff and Similar Inorganic Materials in Wildfire Fighting

Firefighting in natural environments usually involves the use of water. The water extinguishing mechanism is based on the evaporation of water, which prevents access of oxygen to the surface of the combustible material and cools the burning surface. The effect of water on burning surfaces is generally brief, as most of the water quickly drains from the burning surface and the other portion of the water evaporates due to the high temperatures of the burning surface. This allows the oxygen from the air to come into contact with the burning surface again. In the article, the use of aqueous suspensions based on tuff and similar inorganic materials is proposed to increase the efficiency of firefighting. The main purpose of using water suspensions in extinguishing forest firefighting is to improve the adhesion of the extinguishing agent to combustible materials, which makes it harder to reheat and create a thin inorganic layer on combustible surfaces that hinders the access of oxygen to the combustible surface.