EarthClean Corporation of St. Paul, Minnesota, recently announced that its TetraKO® XL-P firefighting water enhancer has been added to the Qualified Product List (QPL) of the USDA Forest Service for use on wildland firefighting operations. The USDA Forest Service, through its Missoula Technology and Development Center, has evaluated, qualified, and approved TetraKO XL-P water enhancer for use by ground engine, helicopter bucket, and single-engine air transport (SEAT) apparatus.
“TetraKO XL-P is the first ready biodegradable water enhancer approved by the USDA Forest Service for use in wildland firefighting operations. Its inclusion in the QPL represents a watershed for our company and furthers our mission to provide organizations with new tools to add to their firefighting arsenal,” explained James R. Grabek, EarthClean Corporation President. “We have invested a significant amount of time and resources to the QPL approval process, and we are excited now to get on with the business of working with wildland firefighting organizations to protect property and natural resources threatened by wildland fires!”
TetraKO XL-P water enhancer granulate easily mixes with water and can be poured directly into a wide range of existing wildland firefighting equipment, including air-pressurized fire extinguishers, backpack sprayers, skid units, utility vehicles (UTVs), helicopter buckets, and SEAT operations. The ready biodegradable mixed solution provides excellent Class-A firefighting and fire management performance.
Cornstarch-based TetraKO poses no known environmental risk to sensitive waterways, plant species, aquatic wildlife, birds and small omnivores and herbivores. With USDA Forest Service approval and QPL designation, TetraKO XL-P ready biodegradable water enhancer gives incident commanders increased flexibility when fighting wildland fires on environmentally sensitive areas of US government lands. (Note: the USDA Forest Service recommends, whenever practical, as determined by the fire incident commander, the use of water or other less toxic wildland fire chemical suppressants for direct attack, or less toxic approved fire retardants in areas either occupied by threatened, endangered, proposed, candidate or sensitive species or designated as their critical habitats.)
“We’ve conducted testing with SEAT aircraft, as well as a variety of ground-based equipment, with excellent results,” said Grabek. “In addition to application on federal lands, this QPL designation gives TetraKO water enhancer the USDA’s official approval required by many state DNR and forestry organizations for wildland firefighting and structure protection.”
TetraKO XL-P granulate is conveniently packaged in sizes ranging from 4-ounce bottles (for mixing into a 2.5 gallon capacity fire extinguisher) to a small pail (enough to create 250 gallons of mixed solution). Larger sizes are available upon request. For more information, and to inquire about distributorship opportunities, visit www.earthclean.com.