TetraKO featured at 2015 Alaska Fire Conference.

TetraKO was demonstrated to 300 professional firefighters and instructors in Seward, Alaska.

Eric McCallum, Anchorage owner of Arctic Wire Rope and Supply, demonstrated TetraKO—from St. Paul, Minnesota—a goopy, biodegradable substance made from cornstarch that firefighters can add to the hose water, minimizing the amount of water needed in fighting fires while also protecting building structures and trees.

It’s a more effective alternative to Class A foam and compressed air foam, he said. It’s an environmentally friendly, patented product, which transforms ordinary water into an adhering liquid that can be pumped through standard fire equipment.

The product covers and clings to walls and ceilings trees, bushes and grasses, and, and can be applied to fires from the air, the back of a truck or even backpack, and is easily cleaned up with water from equipment and surfaces.

McCallum demonstrated its effectiveness with a blowtorch, aimed at a wooden stir stick dipped in the goop. It hardened, and did not burn, and nor did the wood it covered. McCallum claimed it has the potential to change the way fires are fought in the future.

Read more about the Alaska Fire Conference.