Wildfire protection company CitroTech, known for environmentally safe ingredients, relocates headquarters to Colorado

Wildfires are top of mind for many Colorado communities and homeowners. While residents are considering mitigation efforts, a wildfire protection company, called CitroTech, has now relocated its headquarters to Greenwood Village.

Wes Bolsen, the company's CEO, said it's a new era in wildfire prevention, due to their product being the first that is environmentally safe and eco-friendly. He shared how their environmentally safe fire solutions work, while still being researched and studied in the state right now.

"How do we prevent fires and not just respond to them and suppress them with retardant coming out of the sky?" said Bolsen. "We have counties, and we have the state all looking at where and how they could use CitroTech to help prevent fires and protect assets."

It's the kind of question that has been asked around Colorado for decades. Now, Bolsen says his company can help by protecting homes, treating wood and preventing wildfires.

Bolsen showed CBS Colorado how a 2,000-degree torch did not light a fire on dry brush treated months ago with the product. He also demonstrated the difference between treated wood chips and untreated wood chips. While the untreated chips caught fire and continued to burn, the treated chips did not catch fire and instead created a carbon barrier protecting the wood chips under it. 

The EPA says CitroTech was the first fire defense product to earn Safer Choice certification, which means the product has safe ingredients for people and the planet. The agency's statement went on to say, "Products that carry the Safer Choice label meet EPA's Safer Choice Standard, which includes stringent criteria for human health, the environment, and performance. Before a product earns the label, EPA scientists confirm that the product works and every ingredient meets strict safety criteria."

"CitroTech is a clear product that uses almost food-grade elements, things like fermented fruits and vegetables, citric acid. It's a neutralized citric acid," said Bolsen.

Bolsen said the product can be applied year after year, or after rainfall, due to it being safe. Just months into relocating to Colorado, the company also caught the attention of the state.

"CitroTech has been on our radar for quite some time," said Ben Miller, the Director for the Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting. "We'd be curious to do some more with this product for some specific reasons."

Miller researches innovative solutions for Colorado's Division of Fire Prevention and Control. He said unlike red fire retardant, CitroTech uses a new kind of chemistry.

"We're excited because it actually has a chemical reaction with heat and creates a bit of a carbon layer. It just creates a protective barrier that protects everything behind it," said Miller. "Instead of restricting the growth of fire, it's focused more on actually eliminating the opportunity for ignition in the first place."

Miller said, unlike other products, CitroTech works until it's washed off.

"They're really one of the first what we call long-term retardants or long-term applications... We've looked at products in the past that really give you a kind of a two-week window, maybe a one-month window, and then their requirements are you would do a reapplication," said Miller.

What's most impressive, he says, is that CitroTech doesn't change the viscosity of water. It can be sprayed through a garden hose or sprinkler system and would not require new equipment to be sprayed effectively.

"We just can't afford it, and I don't have the resources to completely refit an entire fleet of aircraft to be able to handle this new product. That's a pretty exciting thing," said Miller.

Miller added that while they do recognize CitroTech has an EPA certification, it's not a requirement from the public safety perspective. He also liked that the company is now Colorado-based.

When asked if this is something that could eventually be used in Colorado aerial firefighting efforts, Miller said, "It's an interesting space to try new things. If I'm managing a fire, I need to act fast. So do I pick the thing that we've used forever and has a pretty much an operational guarantee, or do I pick something new that doesn't really doesn't have the reps behind it?"

Bolsen hopes that CitroTech will be used by developers when building new homes, at common places where fires start, like along roads and powerlines, and eventually by Colorado homeowners.

"We want homeowners to be able to spray CitroTech around their home in particularly dangerous situations. It would help if the vegetation around their home were rendered nonflammable," said Bolsen.

In a statement from Carole Walker, the Director for the Rocky Mountain Insurance Association, she says treatments on wood are not something insurers typically recognize as an acceptable mitigation effort. Her statement went on to say, "There's no evidence that demonstrates effectiveness/timeline of effectiveness in real fire conditions. Spraying retardants shouldn't replace home hardening and science-based, passive mitigation measures."

CitroTech still has its existing manufacturing operations in Oceanside, California. For more information about CitroTech, visit citrotech.com.