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Last week's fires in Browning gave some firefighters the opportunity to try a new tool.

It's called FireIce, a gel solution that can extinguish and withstand temperatures exceeding 2,000 degrees.

Ken Hanks of the Black Eagle Fire Department said, "It is far more effective than water. In comparison if you are mixing in a 10 to 1 ratio, a 250 gallon tank is equivalent to about 2,000 gallons of water."

The product has been around for several years, but is fairly new to rural firefighters in Montana.

Hanks noted, "We like to call it a force multiplier. We can do a lot more firefighting with a lot less water and a lot less resources. So our guys aren't getting hurt, they aren't getting burned out, and we aren't spending eight hours on a fire."

Last week, when fires blazed through the Browning area, the East Glacier fire crew decided to test FireIce on a home in the flame's path.

Ben Steele of the East Glacier Fire Department said, "We've never had the opportunity to use it so I was a little hesitant , but with the way the fire was coming at us we just decided to deploy it. About 15 minutes later we were able to get back in and everything that we didn't touch with FireIce was nothing but ashes."

The powder-based substance is mixed with water at a 10 to 1 ratio to create the gel.

Hanks explained, "Since it is a gel, it's not running off and it's not evaporating quickly. It's covering, it's coating, it's cooling. You are pulling the heat out of the burning material, you're coating it, and you are separating the air from the fuel. So you are putting out the fire, you are suffocating it."

The Black Eagle Fire Department used to use a foam product as backup to water, but says FireIce is more effective and less expensive.

Hanks says fellow Montana firefighters are often skeptical when he tells them about the product, but hopes the word starts to spread, so more homes can be saved.

Learn more at the FireIce website.