The Brief

Air tankers are dropping thousands of gallons of red flame retardant in the hills around Los Angeles as firefighters attempt to limit the devastation from multiple wildfires.

Images of vivid red clouds enveloping trees and scrubland prompt two questions: What is it, and what's in it?

"It's primarily a product called Phos-Chek LC95, which is sold by a company called Perimeter," Daniel McCurry, an associate professor in civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California, tells NPR.

"It's been used for decades by the Forest Service," he says. "It's one of maybe only two products currently approved for aerial use by the Forest Service."
In a message to NPR, the Forest Service says that in a change for 2025, it phased out Phos-Chek's older LC95 formulation nationwide in favor of a newer Phos-Chek product, MVP-Fx, after an earlier switch to MVP-Fx in California. The agency says data shows that MVP-Fx is less toxic to aquatic life than LC95.

Air tankers and chemical fire retardants have been used since the 1950s, allowing firefighters to reach difficult spots. The U.S. Forest Service says retardants are used to "slow the rate of spread by cooling and coating fuels, depleting the fire of oxygen, and slowing the rate of fuel combustion as the retardant's inorganic salts change how fuels burn."

So, what's in it?

"It's basically a mixture of water, fertilizer, and then the red color that you see is just rust," McCurry says. In the wild, the color fades over time with exposure to sunlight.

"You might see a gum or thickening agent just to change the viscosity, how sticky this stuff is," McCurry says. Thickeners also keep the material from drifting off-target, he adds, "But the business end of it really is ammonium phosphate fertilizer."

For anyone who's heard of fertilizer being used in explosives: That's ammonium nitrate. Phos-Chek commonly contains two types of salt: diammonium phosphate ([NH4]2HPO4) and ammonium polyphosphate ((NH4PO3)n).

Along with its use as a fertilizer (providing nitrogen and phosphorous to plants), you often see ammonium phosphate in crystal-making kits that are popular with children.

So, how does it stop fires from spreading?

Under normal conditions, cellulose in plant matter decomposes as it's heated, producing flammable compounds. Phos-Chek's maker says the reaction between the retardant and cellulose consumes heat energy from the approaching fire and produces non-flammable carbon material.

The goal is to slow or stop the fire's spread, especially if the area includes homes or other structures.

"They don't tend to drop [retardant] directly in the center of an ongoing fire," McCurry says. "They tend to drop kind of at the barrier of it because they're trying to prevent it from spreading. And the reason that these products are kind of useful for that potentially is that the active ingredient is not water. Right? It's the fertilizer. So even after the water evaporates, you still have that red stripe there for days or weeks."

A firefighter walks a ridge covered with red fire retardant dropped by an air tanker during the Bobcat Fire at the Angeles National Forest in 2020 in Monrovia, Calif.

(

David McNew

/

Getty Images

)

Big air tankers can drop up to 9,400 gallons of Phos-Chek onto trees and other potential fuels. The massive quantities have spurred McCurry and other researchers to consider potential harms from the material. But McCurry says people in a fire zone likely have more pressing worries.

"In terms of immediate concern, the main thing I'd be worried about, regardless of whether there's fire retardant used or not, is just air pollution — like particulate matter," he says. "If you're walking around in an area that's been burned, it's probably still very smoky. So it'd be a good idea to wear a respirator."

Is it safe?

Due to environmental concerns, the Forest Service has a mandatory ban on aerial retardant drops in sensitive areas such as waterways and endangered species habitats (map). That ban is in effect "except when human life or public safety are threatened." Using retardants in restricted areas must be reported for possible remediation.

Phos-Chek doesn't include any substances flagged by California's Proposition 65 list of materials that are known to cause cancer and other harms, according to its maker.

The Forest Service's specifications for wildfire retardants ban PFAS, known as "forever chemicals," along with other unacceptable compounds.

Last year, McCurry and his colleagues published a study suggesting some fire suppression products, including Phos-Chek, can contain toxic heavy metals such as cadmium and chromium. The Forest Service says heavy metals aren't added to fire retardants, "But may be present as naturally occurring impurities in the retarding salts (which come from the same source as crop fertilizers)," Boise State Public Radio reported last November.

As for the air tankers' operations over smoldering hillsides, the most immediate danger would seem to be to the aviators.

"It's a really heroic job," McCurry says of the pilots — many of them former military, he says — who guide massive planes through low-altitude drops over challenging terrain. "You know, some of those guys die every year."

Between 2000-2013, there were 78 aviation deaths related to fighting wildfires, according to a 2015 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Olivia Rodrigo’s upcoming Daisy Chain Fields festival in Irvine sold out brutally fast. If you missed out on tickets, you’re in luck.

The “Driver’s License” artist has partnered with the nonprofit L.A. Works to give Livies a chance at experiencing the all-woman lineup on Aug. 29. The organization is giving out 125 pairs of tickets — with a catch.

How the giveaway works

L.A. Works is determining who gets the general admission tickets through a “volunteer drive” called Daisy Chain Reaction. The drive’s events are focused on supporting women and girls in Southern California.

For a chance to win, your first step is to sign up to volunteer with L.A. Works. Then, the drive has to hit a collective hours goal for the giveaway to be “unlocked.” Between now and 7 p.m. Aug. 20, volunteers need to log at least 1,000 verified hours.

Each participant gets entered into the giveaway based on how many verified hours they volunteered. One hour counts as one entry (no maximum), so the more you volunteer, the higher your chances.

The winners will be picked through a random drawing, and you’ll be contacted via email if you get a pair. To be eligible you must:

• Be at least 18 years old at the time of winning
• Have an active L.A. Works account in good standing
• Opt in to the giveaway when registering for an eligible Daisy Chain Reaction volunteer opportunity
• Be a resident of the U.S.

Where to volunteer

The volunteer opportunities are based in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Some may have a waitlist.

Currently, there are 16 events (many of them recurring) spread out across L.A. County. That includes serving breakfast near MacArthur Park, helping with soil restoration in Altadena and passing out back-to-school backpacks in Montebello.

On the other hand, Orange County currently has just three on the roster. That includes packing food in Irvine and helping out at a STEM event for middle-school girls in Santa Ana. L.A. Works says it’s trying to add more O.C. events.

You can find all of the volunteer opportunities here — just make sure the one you pick has “DCR” in the title or mentions the giveaway in the description.

If you sign up, make sure you can attend. Participants who no-show more than one day will be disqualified from the giveaway.

Americans almost universally prefer cars with automatic transmissions, leading to a slow decline of manual car sales in the states. Less than 1% of new cars made for sale in the U.S. last year were stick shifts, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's latest motor trends report, an all-time low.

But that doesn’t mean people aren't still driving them — or at least reminiscing over the times they did.

Americans are keeping and driving older cars for longer than ever according to the Wall Stree Journal, and teens regularly learn to drive on the family beater. On a recent episode of LAist 89.3’s talk news program AirTalk, listeners shared what it is about driving a manual transmission that’s so enticing, and why they continue to.

Keeping the tradition going

Anna in Highland Park called in and said she learned to drive stick from her father in the ‘90s, and only made the switch from her manual 2007 Toyota Yaris to an automatic a few years ago. But she didn’t part with the old wheels.

“I just taught my 16-year-old daughter to drive it," she said. “Of course she didn’t when I first tried to make her learn it, but she loves it now.”

Dennis Chernyukhin, who gives stick-shift lessons to people in California through his company SHIFTR, said that a big share of his students are teenagers who sign up in order to learn on a family car.

"The parents are nostalgic about how they learned to drive when they were younger, and so they want to pass on that skill,” he said.

Terrifying lessons, lasting love

 ”We got to a red light, and my dad just got out of the car, looked at me and said, ‘Good luck, son. You're ready to go.’ He shut the door, and the light turned green, and there I was,” Jared in Silverlake said. “I was so scared, but I put it in first, I was off.”

The lesson stuck with Jared, and over time he developed a skill of listening for when to shift gears and get the best gas mileage. He drives an automatic car now, but still drives with only one hand saying, “that’s how I learned with stick.”

Feeling connected to the machine

Across the board, callers said driving a manual transmission makes them feel more in tune with the car.

Terry in Studio City said he learned to drive stick when he was 15, and now at 73, he still has never bought a car with an automatic transmission. He drives a 2003 Toyota Tacoma. People often approach him offering to buy the truck. He shoots down their offers every time.

“You’re just connected to the car," echoed John in Hancock Park. "I learned how to drive stick shift when I was 15 on my dad’s old Saab, and there’s just nothing better.”

Saving a buck on a trip abroad

Across Europe, stick shifts are more common, with about 29% of new cars sold with manual transmissions across the big five countries there, according to automotive data company JATO. They're also notably cheaper to rent than their automatic cousins, Booking.com notes.

But back before their wider adoption in Europe, automatic cars were a rarity — a lesson Mary from Indio learned after her father taught her and her sister how to drive stick.

“ We went to Europe and wanted to drive through Europe,” she said. “You couldn't even get an automatic. And so we drove through France, Italy, and Switzerland for 16 days with an Audi stick shift."

Is the end nigh for stick shifts?

Looking at trendlines, it may seem like stick shifts are soon to be a thing of the past. But Chernyukhin said that the teaching biz is pretty good, for a seemingly paradoxical reason.

“What we’ve seen is that as the skill becomes more rare, the demand increases correspondingly,” he said. “There’s no comparable experience to having a clutch pedal and a shifter and fully controlling the car.”

Listen to the full AirTalk conversation below to hear about the niche jobs that still require you to know how to drive stick.

Long Beach is hoping to help keep older residents from falling into homelessness with a new program that offers them limited rental subsidies of $400 to $500 a month.

The money, available through the Older Adult Shallow Subsidy program, is meant to temporarily reduce the burden of rent while people pursue long-term solutions, like affordable housing.

The program is for households that include at least one older adult, defined as anyone age 62 or older, or age 55 or older with a disability.

To qualify, applicants must:

• live in non-subsidized rental housing in Long Beach
• be experiencing severe rent burden (spending 70% or more of income on rent)
• demonstrate the ability to pay rent consistently with shallow subsidy assistance
• have a household income at or below 50% of the Area Median Income (That’s $58,300 for a household of one, up to $110,000 for a household of eight.)

Eligible renters may receive up to $12,000 over two years, with additional support available in extenuating circumstances.

If deemed eligible, participants will also receive light-touch case management, which includes quarterly check-ins and connection to supportive services.

How to apply

Applications are available in English, Spanish, Khmer and Tagalog here. They will remain open until all subsidy slots are filled. You can also apply in person Monday through Thursday at the Multi-Service Center or Mondays and Wednesdays at the Long Beach Senior Center.

The program will prioritize households whose existing rental assistance or housing subsidy has expired or is scheduled to expire within the next 60 days. Those include households that received vouchers, were in the rapid rehousing program, homelessness prevention program or other rental assistance programs where financial support is ending.

Other factors that could lead to an application being prioritized include urgency of eviction risk, disabling conditions, fixed-income status and prior experiences of homelessness.

The program is funded with $1.8 million from a mix of state funding secured by Sen. Lena Gonzalez, the Los Angeles County Measure A sales tax and state grant funding.

Why older adults?

Even as Long Beach has increased spending on homelessness outreach and housing services, it hasn’t been able to keep pace with the number of people falling into homelessness.

This year, 12.4% of people tallied in the annual homeless count reported they were newly homeless, up from 10.9% last year.

This year’s count also found an increase in the number of residents over 55 who were experiencing homelessness (1,096 this year compared to 1,023 last year).

“Older adults living on fixed incomes are increasingly vulnerable to housing instability as rents continue to rise across the region,” Mayor Rex Richardson said in a statement.

Other options for rental subsidies

The program is part of Upstream LB, a three-pronged city initiative announced last year aimed at preventing housing instability.

In April, the city launched its first Renter Aid Program to provide short-term rental assistance for about 250 households.

Thus far, city officials say the Renter Aid program has received more than 3,500 applications and about 50 households have been enrolled.

A separate program targeting Long Beach residents ages 18-25 who are at high risk of homelessness was originally scheduled to launch in July but hasn’t yet started. It aims to help about 50 people in its first year with a budget of $750,000.

The post Long Beach starts offering rental subsidies to older adults. Here’s how to apply. appeared first on LA Local.

Topline:

Why it matters: Owner Barbara Burrell has spent three decades building Sky's into a paragon of Black ownership on a stretch that's lost several other Black-owned institutions in recent years, including Roscoe's House of Chicken 'N Waffles' Pico location in 2023 and My 2 Cents last summer. Burrell cited rising rent and utility costs, diminished foot traffic and competition from ghost kitchens, per reporting from the L.A. Times and Eater L.A.

Food writer Bill Esparza called Sky's "the pinnacle of the Black taco in Los Angeles." He told LAist the lasting influence of Sky's, which helped define a genre, will now be felt in a new wave of Black-owned taco vendors and pop-ups.

"It's like we're losing the Caesar's Restaurant of the Black taco scene," he said, comparing it to the Tijuana restaurant credited with inventing the Caesar salad.

Why now: The business will remain family-run, according to Eater L.A., with Burrell's son and daughter-in-law continuing to lead operations as the focus shifts to catering.

The backstory: Burrell opened Sky's in 1992, building her own "Mexican with a splash of soul" approach — tacos dressed with cheese, lettuce and sour cream over seasoned meats — into a defining thread in Black Angeleno food culture. That approach would later be echoed at spots like Worldwide Tacos and Taco Mell.

Esparza said that type of cuisine represents a connection between Black and Mexican styles of cooking dating back to the Hot Tamale Trail of the Mississippi Delta, where tamale-making took hold in Black Southern communities generations before migrating west. Nearby, Stevie's Creole Cafe and CJ's Cafe remain open, anchoring what's left of Mid-City's Black-owned restaurant row.