THERE IS A PRODUCT ON THE MARKET that has been proven effective in protecting homes from passing forest fires.  Known as Barricade gel™, it has been in use for 10 years, but is still relatively unknown.

To put it simply, the product is mixed with water through a pickup tube and hosed onto a building where it forms a coating that repels fire and even keeps heat from passing through.  Using a jug filled with the gel attached to a garden hose, it can be sprayed onto a house quickly.   Water from the hose is soaked up in the gel and stored in layers of millions of tiny bubbles.  The gel can protect trees and houses far longer than ordinary water because the water inside the gel boils off one layer at a time, while water alone can evaporate quickly.

According to the manufacturer, each layer holds the heat away from the next layer of bubbles beneath. As a result, the gel can provide thermal protection from fire long enough for a blaze to blow past even at 3,500 degrees.   Spraying it onto windows prevents radiant heat from igniting curtains inside.

In northern San Diego County, the community of Palomar Mountain (home of the famous Palomar Observatory) is getting prepared during this especially critical wildfire season.  A $20,000 county grant recently allowed the fire department to purchase enough Barricade gel for all homes on Palomar Mountain. Jugs and applicators soon will be stored in key locations around the mountain for residents to use before fleeing when fire breaks out. Lucia and the department’s Community Emergency Response Team coordinator, Bill Leininger, are encouraging people to buy a Barricade kit from the department at cost for $220.

Palomar Resident Bret Thorne sprayed his arm
with the gel and held it in the flames to demonstrate
its effectiveness.  It is easily cleansed off with water.
Union-Tribune photo

Barricade was applied to some of the most severely threatened homes as the fires raced towards the community of Palm Coast, Florida on July 2, 1998. Amazingly, every one of the Barricade-treated homes stood completely undamaged after the firestorm passed.

Captain Gorden Sabo and his crew of the Rockerville Fire Department, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, were assigned to a structural protection task force while working the Battle Creek Fire. The 13,200-acre fire was raging out of control on August 17, 2002 and was threatening many homes. Fortunately for homeowners, the State of South Dakota had recently purchased Barricade Fire Blocking Gel for every fire department in the Black Hills region. Captain Sabo was in command of a brush truck equipped with the Barricade Quik Atak system. With the raging fire bearing down, Captain Sabo and his crew applied Barricade to the threatened homes. The crew coated six homes before they exhausted their supply of Barricade Gel and had leave the area for their own safety.

When the fire had passed, they returned to the area and discovered that every home they “barricaded” was still standing, undamaged from the fire. The one home they were unable to coat and all of the outbuildings around the homes, which also were not coated, had burned to the ground.

Barricade gel is made from canola oil and is completely non-toxic and biodegradable.  For more information you can visit their website HERE.  Some of this information is from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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