A Southern California company has been charged in Santa Barbara County with selling a supposed wildfire protection spray that neither works nor is safe for people and animals, according to court filings.
Sun FireDefense, which also goes by the business name Sunseeker Enterprises, Inc., was charged Monday with making false and misleading advertisement claims about the effectiveness, environmental impact, and non-toxicity of its product.
SPF Clear Spray has been marketed as a clear coating that can be applied to the exterior of a home to prevent it from catching fire and burning down, especially in the event of wildfire.
The website for the product boasts support from firefighting agencies, the Discovery Channel, and other reputable companies and also claims the product was created in collaboration with NASA, all of which the complaint calls a lie.
District Attorney Joyce Dudley said she launched her inquiry into the company after watching a commercial about the product on TV that "personally frightened me."
According to the allegations, the spray does not work as advertised and gave customers false expectations that it would spare their home from fire.
The suit seeks civil penalties of at least $5 million.
"Wildfires are a growing and ever-present danger in Santa Barbara County, Los Angeles, and many regions of California where urban areas border wildlands," the press release states.
Dudley said in the press release that customers have a right to accurate marketing and argued that Sun FireDefense acted in a predatory way that targeted vulnerable residents in fire-prone areas.
