Check Out This Awesome Flyover Video of Recent Casper Fires

There were two recent wildfires just outside Casper on July 5th, 2020. One was the Gas Hills Fire, which was located roughly about 42 miles west of town. The other was the Rolling Hills Fire, which was about 30 miles east of the city limits.

Pilot Mike Miller shared video footage to his YouTube channel of both fires from the undercarriage of a plane that was assisting in fighting the blazes. In the footage, you can see his plane and others doing drops to extinguish the flames.

In case you've ever wondered what the red stuff is that airplanes and helicopters are dropping on the wildfires, according to the website, Jalopink.com, it's a fire-retardant chemical that’s color dyed so that it’s easy to see from the ground and from the air. The website also stated:

It's a slurry mix consisting of a chemical salt compound, water, clay or a gum- thickening agent, and a coloring agent.

More specifically, that juice is called Phos-Chek or Fire-Trol. And while there are many variants of it optimized for different situations, the stuff is largely a better fire-mitigator than water because it lingers.

The video shows just how quickly these wildfires can spread and also how dangerous it is for those involved in fighting those fires, even from the air.