VANCOUVER, Washington — With the growing threat of wildfire fueling increased demand for fire-retardant treated wood (FRTW), some manufacturers are offering unproven lower-cost alternatives to help meet that demand, often making misleading claims to promote them. But recent testing shows it’s easy to get burned when those claims don’t stand up to scrutiny. …Results from the testing showed when it comes to meeting rigorous codes-specified fire testing requirements, wood products treated with non-pressure applied fire retardants are unreliable at best. In all 10 tests of pressure-treated FRTW, the products met the objective of the ASTM E2768 — the flame front did not progress beyond 10.5 feet at any point during the 30-minute test. But 19 of the 21 products treated with non-pressure applied fire retardants were unable to reach the 30-minute mark without the flame front progressing beyond 10.5 feet.