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Los Angeles Fires in California Described as..Apocalyptic
The city of Los Angeles, California, has been battling ongoing wildfires since January 7, resulting in the deaths of 10 people and forcing over 360,000 residents to evacuate their homes under mandatory orders.
Survivors have described the scene as “almost like the end of the world,” with entire neighborhoods reduced to ash, leaving residents in a state of grief and shock. Oren Waters, one of the survivors, told Agence France-Presse, "This is unimaginable. Everything around us is destroyed."
As wildfires continue to spread across California, impacting around 10,000 structures in coastal Los Angeles, the issue of freshwater scarcity has emerged, limiting firefighting efforts. With the state boasting a significant coastline along the Pacific Ocean, many are questioning why the U.S. does not utilize ocean water to combat these fires.
This article addresses that question, according to the science news site Technology Org.
To extinguish a fire, one must reduce at least one of the three elements required for combustion: heat, fuel, or oxygen. When water is used, a significant amount of heat is absorbed to facilitate evaporation, which helps cool and weaken the fire, while also suffocating it by cutting off its oxygen supply.
Although the difference in the impact of freshwater and saltwater isn’t huge on a fundamental level, saltwater is typically not used for various reasons. Components of water tanks and other firefighting equipment are made from metals that can corrode due to salt. Additionally, saltwater damages vegetation, rendering soils unproductive for many years.
In theory, saltwater could be used in coastal cities devoid of vegetation, but the firefighting systems predominantly rely on freshwater, making its use impractical even in those scenarios.
Overall, freshwater is more effective in extinguishing fires due to its chemical properties. The salt content in saltwater interferes with the firefighting process, making it less effective, alongside being corrosive, which can harm firefighting equipment.
Moreover, saltwater is a good conductor of electricity, making its use in electrical fires risky due to increased shock hazards.
For these reasons, freshwater remains the preferred option for firefighting efforts, even though specialized extinguishing agents may be required for certain types of fires. However, if freshwater is not available, using saltwater is always better than doing nothing at all.
Finally, saltwater is harmful to plants due to its high salt content, specifically sodium chloride, which leads to a phenomenon known as soil salinization. Excess salt remains in the soil after firefighting efforts, causing potentially lethal damage to vegetation.
