Chemicals put out fires just as medicines cure diseases---------and just as medicines often come with negative side effects(just watch any pharmaceutical ad at night on tv with their 20 seconds of cautionary footnotes), so do retardants cause many problems(death by poison) for wildlife post fire "put-out" with new evidence pointing to these chemicals not assisting significantly in saving homes in burn zones

Ask the Question: Is Retardant Effective The Fourmile Canyon Fire that burned outside of Boulder in September 2010 was the most destructive wildfire in Colorado's history. A hundred and seventy homes were lost, and before the last embers had died out, the finger pointing over the management of the fire began. Private airtanker contractors were quick to criticize fire managers for not calling into service 747-sized aircraft to fight the blaze. "To see incidents like we're having in Colorado, where we definitely feel we can have a big impact, is a little frustrating," said Evergreen Aviation tanker program manager Jim Baynes, in a Denver Post story.

But do airtankers and the chemical retardant they drop on fires actually make a difference? Not only is the jury out on that question, the U.S. Forest Service hasn't even asked it. Although laboratory research confirms that ammonia phosphate retardant slows the spread of fire through pine needles and leaf litter, there is no evidence that chemical retardant changes the outcome of large forest fires under real-life conditions.

Chemical retardant was formulated in the 1950s as a tool to slow the spread of small fires in remote, inaccessible land in the mountainous west. Today, retardant use is still largely confined to states west of the Mississippi, with half of all chemical retardant dropped in California. But its use has expanded well beyond the purpose of providing the extra hours needed for firefighting crews to hike into remote wilderness areas and build fire lines.

Much of the retardant now dropped on western fires is used to battle large fires, especially where homes arethreatened. Although there is no research that addresses whether retardant use reduces home losses, there is substantial research that explains why some homes burn and others don't. This evidence indirectly undercuts claims that aerial retardant saves homes.
The research, much of it conducted by Missoula-based Forest Service scientist Jack Cohen, shows that homes burn based upon the flammability of the construction materials and the vegetation within 100 feet of the house. Fire retardant does not protect flammable homes from wind-born embers and burning branches. A large, wind-driven fire often overwhelms whatever firefighting force can be brought to bear, leaving flammable homes vulnerable.
As a result of a court order FSEEE obtained in July, the Forest Service is now preparing an environmental impact statement on aerial fire retardant. The agency's first step is to ask its research scientists if fire retardant has been shown to be effective. This may be the beginning of the end of faith-based fire retardant use.