DAVID POGUE: Over the past century, death rates from fires have dropped 90 percent in the United States, mostly thanks to smoke detectors, fireproof materials and fire codes. Still, nearly 3,000 people die in residential fires each year. And now the risk of wild fires seems to be on the rise, most likely due to higher temperatures and droughts, brought on by climate change.

We have foams and chemical retardants to knock down flames and slow the spread of fire, but many of these products are toxic to plants and animals. Short of installing sprinkler systems throughout the wilderness, can’t we find a better way to combat fires?

I’ve come to the headquarters of EarthClean, in Minnesota to find out.

Rumor on the street is you’ve come up with something better than water for putting out a fire.

SCOTT BOCKLUND (TetraKO/EarthClean Corporation): This is going to put the fire out faster than anything you’ve seen before.

DAVID POGUE: Vanilla pudding?

This goop is called TetraKO, and it’s different from plain old water in an important way.

SCOTT BOCKLUND: The unique thing about it is it actually adheres to where it’s sprayed. You can spray it on a ceiling, you can spray it on a wall, and it would actually stick and stay there.

DAVID POGUE: So the, the firefighter, if it were water, would have to stand there hosing, hosing, hosing, but now can just spray the goop, and then move on to the next wall?

SCOTT BOCKLUND: Exactly.

DAVID POGUE: But won’t this gel just melt away in a fire?

SCOTT BOCKLUND: I’ll show you that the stick does actually burn.

DAVID POGUE: Apparently, this stuff can also keep things from going up in flames.

So, what’s in there, exactly?

SCOTT BOCKLUND: Well, our main ingredient is cornstarch.

DAVID POGUE: Cornstarch?

SCOTT BOCKLUND: If you’d like to try it, you can.

DAVID POGUE: Wait, what are you doing?

SCOTT BOCKLUND: It’s all natural. You can eat it.

DAVID POGUE: So how does cornstarch stop fire?

ERIC MORRISON (TetraKO/EarthClean Corporation): So, you’ve all made gravy. So here’s my cornstarch.

DAVID POGUE: Just add a little water, apply some heat, and that simple white powder becomes white goo.

ERIC MORRISON: This will thicken up, as soon as it gets hot.

DAVID POGUE: Cornstarch consists of long chains of glucose—a form of sugar—tightly packed into tiny granules. When mixed in water and heated, those chains separate. They swell and create a net-like structure that makes the mixture thicker. That’s why we use corn starch to thicken gravy, and it’s why this stuff sticks to walls in a fire, instead of melting.

So, next time I’m making Thanksgiving dinner, and it bursts into flame, as typically happens with me, what should I grab to throw on it? A bucket of water or the pot of gravy?

ERIC MORRISON: Pot of gravy.

DAVID POGUE: The gel also contains polymers, long molecular chains, dissolved in water, which give it the special properties of a non-Newtonian fluid.

Most fluids are just plain Newtonian. Water is the classic example. Stir it, whisk it, shake it as much as you want and it doesn’t change its thickness. Juice, honey, and most oils are also Newtonian fluids. But non-Newtonian fluids change when you apply force to them.

The best-known non-Newtonian fluid is ketchup.

ERIC MORRISON: And ketchup has this property. When it’s not being squeezed, it’s a solid. But if you shake it up and it starts to move around, it liquefies.

DAVID POGUE: So this is a, a facial cleanser. It’s a gel, but it’s pretty solid.

ERIC MORRISON: It is a solid.

DAVID POGUE: The bubbles are frozen in space. And yet, through the miracle of non-Newtonian fluids, it turns into a liquid?

ERIC MORRISON: Exactly.

This is also a solid.

DAVID POGUE: And this is hair styling gel.

ERIC MORRISON: And if we pump it, it liquefies.

DAVID POGUE: It turns into a mist.

ERIC MORRISON: Right.

DAVID POGUE: The non-Newtonian firefighting gel also has a split personality.

So the TetraKO is a gel, when it’s in the fire truck, and then you’re spraying it, it comes out of the nozzle, instantly turns into a liquid, so it can spray. Then it lands on the wall and then what?

ERIC MORRISON: Turns back into a solid.

DAVID POGUE: Oh, my gosh!

But fire on a little paint stick is one thing. Let’s see how the corn starch does at putting out a real fire, like my little fake apartment here.

The Fire Department of White Bear Lake, Minnesota helps us stage a test.

The gel hits the burning surfaces and sticks, smothering the flames. The cornstarch thickens the gel and releases clouds of steam.

Wow. About two seconds, that thing was out, and I mean completely out.

Local fire departments are using this new firefighting gel in the field. And though it costs more than just spraying water, some think it’s worth it.

Chief Zikmund, can I talk to you a sec?

NYLE ZIKMUND (Spring Lake Park-Blaine-Mounds View Fire Department): You bet, glad to.

DAVID POGUE: Have a seat.

NYLE ZIKMUND: Thanks, I’ll pass.

DAVID POGUE: So, you’ve used this stuff in real fires, out in the real world?

NYLE ZIKMUND: Out in our community, we’ve had it on a half-dozen fires. The crew would hit it from the doorway, and the fire’s out, and it stays out. This is some of the best technology I’ve seen come along in years.

DAVID POGUE: TetraKO is in beta-testing for use in wildfires. It can be sprayed on vegetation and buildings in the path of an approaching fire, up to a day in advance. And it’s non-toxic, safe for the environment, wildlife and us.