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Why Does the USA Not Use Seawater to Fight Wildfires?

Large-scale wildfires have also gained significance in the United States, specifically states like California, Oregon, and Washington, because of the gigantic forests they contain, combined with extremely arid conditions and strong winds. Considering the size of its coastline and the volume of seawater surrounding it, it is a wonder that the United States does not make use of seawater to put out wildfires that continue to destroy communities and ecosystems alike. Using recent Los Angeles wildfires for context, this article takes a look at the science, logistics, and environmental considerations that go into such a question.

Basic Wildland Firefighting: Why Water Works

Water is probably the most powerful agent applied for fighting fire. It works chiefly by cooling burning material and to a lesser degree by excluding oxygen from the fire. In wildland firefighting, much water is applied and it is generally airdropped or dropped from helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

The sources of freshwater sources include rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and hydrants. It is more accessible and less corrosive than seawater. While seawater is just theoretically feasible, several other challenges make it completely impracticable for application in wildfire suppression.

Challenges to the Application of Seawater in Wildfire Suppression

1. Seawater Corrosive Properties

Seawater is very salty, and this could lead to rusting of firefighting equipment like pumps, hoses, and aircraft. Salt increases wear and tear and raises the cost of maintenance, hence reducing the life of firefighting equipment. Specific machines that could be destroyed by exposure to saltwater are helicopters and airplanes dropping water on the fire. Maintaining and repairing these machines after repeated use with seawater would result in a great increase in operational costs.

2. Environmental Impact

Seawater is not that environmentally friendly for firefighting purposes. The high salt content can kill off plant life, soil quality, and freshwater ecosystems. When such seawater is dropped over burning forests or vegetation, the salt may leak into the soil, rendering it less fertile and messing up the natural regeneration process. Freshwater sources are not as liable to inflict long-term ecological damage.

3. Logistical Challenges

Most of the time, wildfires occur very far from the coast, and managing the logistics to transfer seawater to the zones is not that easy. In that respect, heavy machinery for pumping, storing, and distributing the seawater inland would be required, but such infrastructure is probably not even available during a rapidly developing wildfire crisis. Most of the time, freshwater resources will be closer to most areas predisposed to catching wildfires and, therefore, can be mobilized much faster with ease.

4. Efficiency of Seawater in Firefighting

Sea­water actually ex­in­guish­es the fire but on the oth­er side, salt may al­so be re­spon­si­ble for oth­er un­ex­pect­ed ef­fects. Salts have been report­ed to de­posit and even hin­der an­y re­cov­ery pro­cess­es from an in­ci­dent of fire. Salt par­ti­cles aris­ing due to sea­wa­ter at a fire fight­ing in­ci­dent, as well as afterward adds up to the lo­cal pol­lu­tion, again fac­toring the more dam­ages in the cities as well as the wild life.

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Recent wild fire oc­cur­rence - a case of Los Angeles

In early January 2025, Los Angeles suffered a spate of terrible wildfires that included the Palisades and Eaton, which burned upwards of 27,000 acres and destroyed thousands of structures. Fed by strong winds out of Santa Ana at almost 100 mph, the firefighting was very problematic. More than 1,400 firefighters participated in extinguishing the fires; however, because of very strong winds and multiple fires it had become hard for the fire fighters to contain these fires. Most firefighting tends to attack from the sides, cutting into flanking areas using firebreaks. However LA's intricate topography with strong winds tended to work against these efforts. Some critical buildings needed to be smothered using water, although LA's water supplies were very heavily stressed. Hard choices had to be made in conserving major structure losses while accommodating minor ones. For instance, there were certain tactics like tactical burns, considered too dangerous because of the prevailing winds. Ultimately, the only hope for fire containment was through a change in weather, and as long as the winds remained strong, extinguishing the fire completely was virtually out of the question. The use of sea water was not an applicable option considering all the practical logistics and environmental hazards of its usage, as partially highlighted above. Resources used by the fire fighters in fighting the fire included fresh water, fire retardants, and state of the art technologies.

Alternative Solutions and Modern Firefighting Techniques

Instead of using sea water the USA has a number of developed techniques and ways to put off wildfires which include:

1. Retardants

Fire retardants are chemical solutions dropped by aircraft, which delay the spread of fires. The aerially applied retardants are usually mixed with water and considerably more effective than water alone in creating firebreaks and protecting areas that have not yet burned. While retardants also have their environmental trade-offs, they are tailored for firefighting and generally less harmful than seawater in most cases.

2. Controlled Burns

Controlled burns are proactive, meaning small, manageable fires are set intentionally to get rid of excess vegetation that may feed a wildfire. This is one method to minimize the intensity of wildfires and is used extensively in the USA.

3. Modern Aerial Support

Large firefighting helicopters and fixed-wing airplanes play an enormous role in wildfire suppression, carrying their tanks of water and fire retardants. These very often siphon water from nearby lakes and reservoirs; this does much less damage to the equipment or the environment compared to saltwater.

4. Firebreaks and Infrastructure

All factors relating to the management of such risks from wildfires range from physical barriers and firebreaks to investment in infrastructure, including the supply of water through pipes and storage facilities near hazardous areas.

When Seawater Is Used

Despite its hostile nature, firefighting involves seawater in certain situations. One such situation where this has been utilized is when the location of a fire is near a shore or coastline. At such times, helicopters or air planes use long buckets to scoop this seawater from the sea into the fire, dropping the seawater from an altitude of not more than twenty meters from it. These are thus the exceptions but the rule, apart from conditions which do not allow easier access to a freshwater supply.