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Lot Acceptance & Quality Assurance Program
The National Technology and Development Program in Missoula, MT receives field samples of long-term retardants and provides evaluation results to airtanker base personnel and to the retardant manufacturer. This program identifies quality control issues and offers troubleshooting support. The WFCS document "Lot Acceptance and Quality Assurance Program"
provides an outline of the Lot Acceptance and Quality Assurance (LAQA) Program.
Field Testing Resources
Airtanker Base LAQA Tests
The LAQA program engages with field personnel every season to test field samples in our laboratory. We also request that personnel at each airtanker base perform their own quality control tests to confirm that they have properly mixed and loaded the retardant. For training and reference purposes, airtanker base crews can use the WFCS document "Long-Term Fire Retardant Characteristics and Mix Factors" to ensure they mix the retardant properly and can find specific information about each QPL retardant on the WFCS Product Information web page.
How to Perform LAQA Tests
The following web pages and documents provide information about performing LAQA tests:
- The WFCS Evaluation of Wildland Fire Chemicals Standard Test Procedures web page
(STP4.2—Refractometer Reading) - The WFCS Refractometer Photos web page
- "Assessment of Seven Refractometers for Evaluating Wildland Fire Retardants" (0577–2822–MTDC)
- The WFCS Refractometer Calibrations contact information web page
- The NTDP document "Evaluation of Wildland Fire Chemicals Standard Test Procedures" (Marsh Funnel)
- STP 4.2 Refractometry: The reading on a hand-held refractometer is used to provide an estimate of the salt content of a fire retardant. Instrument Used: Misco Digital Refractometer PA201X
- STP 4.3 Density: Density is most frequently used as an indicator of the salt content of a product that previously has been tested and had correlation tables developed. Another important use of the density is to calculate safe loading of the aircraft used to deliver a product to the fire. Instrument Used: Anton-Paar Model DMA 35
- STP 4.5 Viscosity: Viscosity of a product can be used to approximate flow and aerial drop characteristics by relating values to those of a product with a known composition. Instrument Used: Brookfield LVF Viscometer
Sample Submission Process
The WFCS document "Lot Acceptance and Quality Assurance Program" provides an overview of sampling procedures. The WFCS Lot Acceptance and Quality Assurance Procedures web page provides more detailed sampling procedures.
We recommend that you submit the sample to us as soon as possible (no later than 1 week) after collecting it. Delayed sample shipments can decrease the quality of the data collected.
Please ship each sample in a clean, plastic canteen and:
- Seal the lid with tape to prevent it from opening during shipping.
- Fill in the label with a water-resistant pen (most ball point pens or a fine Sharpie work well).
- Obtain labels from Bill Yount (contact information below), or print your own "LAQA Sample" labels.
- Be sure to include an airtanker base contact name and email or phone number.
- Please specify which tank you took the sample from if you have multiple tanks.
- Attach the completed label to the bottle.
Request PDF's From:
Bill Yount
WFCS, NTDP USDA Forest Service
5785 Highway 10 West Missoula, MT 59808
Phone: 406–829–6716
bill.yount@usda.gov
Annual Retardant Use Reporting
Following each fire season, the WFCS program collects chemical usage data and base-specific details from the field. This information is compiled into an annual-use report and, if usage thresholds are reached, reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) for ammonia.
2022 Retardant Use Report (for base use only) : (CLICK HERE)
To request a pdf version of the Retardant Use Report, please contact LAQA Lead, Bill Yount (bill.yount@usda.gov).
Return these forms to Bill Yount no later than December 15 of the calendar year.