Fire retardant available to protect homes from wildfire

Wildfire Prevention Corporation, an organization that specializes in providing safeguards against wildfires, has come to the Texas Hill Country. They have partnered with Perimeter Solutions to treat properties with PHOSCHEK, a ground-based, long-term fire retardant. The retardant is approved by the U.S. Forest Service and has been used since the 1960s. It is safe for people, livestock, pets, and vegetation.

When applied on vegetation and other surfaces around homes and buildings, PHOSCHEK helps prevent wildfires from bursting into flames. Based on the same technology as the red fire retardant dropped from aircraft during active wildfires, a single annual application can help protect surfaces until a significant amount of rain falls.

“Typically, people’s most valuable asset is their home but insurance companies have started dropping coverage for wildfire destruction,” said Thaddeus Foster, Chief Executive Officer of Wildfire Prevention Corp. “Basically, if your home burns down, there is no insurance coverage and you’ve simply lost your home and belongings. We’ve lost a home to fire and it’s heartbreaking and financially devastating.”

“PHOS-CHEK can be used to protect electrical infrastructure which is frequently the cause for wildfires, as evidenced by the fires in the Panhandle, Maui, and in California,” Thaddeus continued. “As demonstrated by this year’s Smokehouse Creek Fire, wildfires in the state of Texas are growing in intensity and impact.”

“Texas has a somewhat unique wildfire season,” said Alex Foster, Chief Operating Officer with Wildfire Prevention Corp. “The larger, more explosive fires tend to occur during the first part of the year, driven by high winds and dead vegetation from the dry winter months. Then there is a second fire season from the summer to early fall, after the high heat of summer and in the depths of the drought.”

“On a trip to a vineyard last year, we saw that trees and parts of other wineries had burned, but that the winery we were visiting was completely untouched. When we asked how they were saved, we were told PHOS-CHEK had been applied. We explored the technology and wanted to make that solution available to residents of Texas,” said Thaddeus.

Importantly, it can protect evacuation routes. “There are points of vulnerability for the government to consider protecting with retardant, mainly around evacuation choke points which exist all over the heavily wooded hill country,” Alex said.

Wildfire Prevention Corp. began serving the Texas Hill Country on April 15. By partnering with Perimeter Solutions, they became their exclusive authorized service provider for the state of Texas.

“We are very excited about both being able to help our neighbors protect their families and property from fire, and to create ownership opportunities for current and retired firemen who want to be licensees of this business. We have the marketing, financial, and operational skills to help people build successful businesses based on their life experience managing fires — but now they get to prevent them instead of fighting them,” said Thaddeaus.

For information about this Wimberley- based service, email thaddeus@txwildfire. com, or call 904-8388375.