VIDEO: A fire retardant drop from a Cal Fire aircraft can be beautiful when you see it in person however, it can be very dangerous to people and vehicles on the ground.
The red substance cascading down to the ground from an airplane may appear like a cloud of smoke but a video posted Friday by Cal Fire shows how dangerous it can be.
In the video, an SUV was struck with 9,000 pounds of fire retardant from an S-2 aircraft demonstrating what's called a "low drop."
The SUV roof and trunk are collapsed by the weight of the retardant.
Cal Fire officials posted the video to remind residents that if they find themselves or their vehicles in a fire zone where there may be Large Airtankers (LATs) or Very Large Airtankers (VLATs), they should be aware of their surroundings.
Firefighters are advised to stay an additional 50 feet beyond the boundaries set for both types of aircraft because there are a number of variables that could change the height of the drop including terrain and wind speed.