Frustration mounts as Alberta enters wildfire season without ‘Silver Bullet’ firefighting gel

As Alberta braces for another potentially devastating wildfire season, controversy is brewing over the UCP government’s continued reliance on conventional fire retardants despite mounting concerns over their environmental impact and effectiveness.

Despite what it is calling “historic new investments in wildfire response” — last week’s budget allocates $160 million to personnel, equipment, and aircraft contracts — some in the industry argue the province is ignoring a game-changing firefighting tool. 

Firefox Wildfire, an Alberta-based company, has been pushing for the use of its patented fire suppression gel, which it claims is far more effective and environmentally friendly than traditional retardants. However, the company has been sidelined in what its president, Rick Solomon, describes as a deeply flawed procurement process that favours outdated methods.

Firefox’s fire suppression gel, designed for ‘direct attack’ firefighting, extinguishes flames on contact and is non-toxic. In fact it’s made from one of Alberta’s most abundant resources after oil and gas — canola.

The company argues that it’s a stark contrast to the long-term retardants Alberta currently uses, substances that have been found to contain hazardous levels of heavy metals.

Solomon has spent years lobbying Alberta’s government to adopt his company's technology. But after a heated exchange with Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen, he says he’s lost faith in the system.

“I was shaken that this minister is supposed to be protecting us,” Solomon told The Western Standard.

The government, according to Solomon, has insisted that Firefox must purchase helicopters before it will consider contracting the company, despite the fact that Firefox’s system is designed to be used with any aircraft, including those Alberta already leases.

While Alberta continues to lean on conventional fire retardants, a growing body of research is raising serious questions about their safety. 

A recent study by the USC Viterbi School of Engineering found that from 2009-2021, wildfire suppression materials released an estimated 400,000 kilograms of toxic metals into the environment across the western US alone.

Similar concerns are being raised in the Yukon and British Columbia.

Researchers detected high levels of hazardous heavy metals including cadmium, chromium, and vanadium in commonly used fire retardants. Some samples contained concentrations 14 times higher than what California classifies as ‘hazardous waste’.

“When retardant-laden aircraft drop their loads over forests and grasslands, they’re effectively creating a toxic spill,” said environmental engineering PhD student Marella Schammel, lead author of the USC study.

In 2016, a Washington state air tanker base was cited for violating water pollution limits due to cadmium, chromium, and vanadium contamination — substances that, according to the study, may have come from fire retardants.

Despite these findings, Alberta’s government continues to prioritize these products, arguing that there is no substitute. However, critics like Solomon say this reliance is not based on science, but rather on inertia and industry lobbying.

“We know it doesn’t work” and yet it’s still being used, he said.

Even the firefighting community acknowledges that long-term retardants are far from a perfect solution, especially after the record devastation in Los Angeles.

Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy recently admitted that while retardant slows fire spread, it doesn’t stop embers from igniting new fires ahead of retardant lines, one of the biggest dangers in high-wind conditions.

Andy Stahl, director of the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, has gone further, calling claims about retardant’s effectiveness “a propaganda lie.”

Solomon argues that Alberta officials are well aware of these shortcomings but continue to suppress alternatives like Firefox’s gel.

“We always hear in the media that LTR (long-term retardant) doesn’t work that well, but ‘it’s all we have’. It’s a lie And they know it,” he said.

According to Solomon, his company was offered contracts in both 2023 and 2024, but with a catch — the contracts included a clause allowing the province to terminate them at any time without cause. Given that Firefox would have to front millions of dollars worth of product, Solomon saw this as a setup to leave his company financially devastated, as happened to them in 2015 under the NDP government.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Alberta’s wildfire seasons have grown increasingly catastrophic, with over 2.2 million hectares burned in 2023 alone. 

The province has since seen some improvement, but many worry that without a fundamental shift in firefighting strategy, it’s only a matter of time before another devastating season unfolds, and another Jasper goes up in flames.

Solomon says he’s done waiting for government officials to wake up.

“The province is not going to use my company,” he said. “They are ignoring a proven solution while continuing to dump toxic chemicals on our forests and communities.”

The Western Standard has reached out to Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Lowen for comment.