Can Private Slurry Protect Your Home From Wildfires?

(CBS4)- At a fire station in the Denver metro area, the needle on the sign was being moved in the direction of dread from "very high" to "extreme" fire danger.

After the Marshall Fire, and others since then, homeowners are looking for ways to best protect their property.

CBS4 found one on the internet called Komodo and the videos show its product creating a barrier from flames.

Shawn Sahbari, the president and CEO of Komodo Fire Systems explained to CBS4, "The material adheres to the vegetation and forms a film and that film is non-flammable, non-combustible, will not burn."

The images of air tankers dropping slurry on wildfires may make homeowners wonder if a similar, self-applied product would work to protect their property.

We put the question to Captain Aaron Johnson of West Metro Fire Rescue who replied, "I think a homeowner could do a lot of other things in preparation for a fire instead of putting fire retardant on their house or the ground."

There are a few products approved by the USDA for fire retardant use. But West Metro suggests a different first step.

"Reduction in the fuels from our perspective is the best way to protect yourself from wildfires," According to Johnson.

The boasts are strong.

Sahbari said, "You can take a blow torch, it's not a matter of lightning or a wildfire you could deliberately try to burn the material that we coat and you would not be able to burn it."

But with hurricane-force winds seen in Colorado this year, the embers easily fly through the air.

The slurry-type products generally cost a few hundred dollars per house.