Oops: Air tanker drops pink fire retardant on Calif. neighborhood
SANTA ROSA — A Cal Fire air tanker flying to the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport somehow unloaded pink fire retardant on a Windsor neighborhood early Thursday afternoon, CBS San Francisco reports.
About 100 gallons of the liquid fell on about a dozen homes and cars in the 300 block of Decanter Circle in southwest Windsor, which lies within a flight path of the airport, Windsor police Sgt. Andy Cash said.
Neighbors took the incident in stride, joking about free car washes and pink sidewalks, Cash said.
The Cal Fire plane was either heading to, or returning from, a fire call to Petaluma but was not needed after all, Cash said.
Town of Windsor employees responded to make sure the pink stuff didn't enter any waterways, Cash said.
Windsor Fire Protection District firefighters helped wash vehicles and clean up the fire retardant, Cash said.
Pink fire retardant known as Phos-Chek is routinely used by aircraft in fighting wildfires and is about 85 percent water.
Cal Fire did not respond to calls about the incident Thursday afternoon.