Another side of the fire suppression issue

To the Editor:

To the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics who are trying to stop the use of fire retardant because it kills fish:

I assume the U.S. Forest Service is still using a borate fire retardant. Does that make sense?

Fire retardants are often used when the fire is close to entering a new area, when firefighters are threatened, or when the fire is too hot to fight with firefighters or machines, or when people, homes, towns, highways or other major facilities are threatened.

Consider the ecological damage of a fire spreading fast. The forest floor is swept by the fire-created winds and dust, pollen, smoke and other irritants are thrown into the air and the emergency rooms are crowded with asthmatics and others with respiratory disease. The trees, brush and grass are destroyed; animals are killed; and yes, people are killed. Topsoil is washed into waterways which fill with silt. Fish die and spawning beds are destroyed.

In 1910, 93 million acres were burned through Montana, Idaho and Washington with one forest fire.

If you wish to help: quit smoking. Join a fire crew next summer. In the meantime, light up the logs in your fireplace; take your shoes off and sit before the fire. Roast a wiener and think of it as one of your toes. Then think about firefighters with fire all around them. Instead of hiring lawyers, gather money for a prize for the chemical company which makes a fire retardant up to your standards.

John Wilcox

Troy