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Four conditions are necessary for fire to assume ecological importance: 1) an accumulation of organic matter, i.e. fuel either herbaceous or woody, sufficient enough to burn; 2) dry weather conditions to render the material combustible; 3) a landscape conducive to the spread of…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Ecology, Fire Effects, Fuels, Planning, Prescribed Fire, Restoration and Rehabilitation, Safety, Weather
Region(s): Southern
Keywords: air temperature, relative humidity, winds, fuel moisture, smoke management, fire frequency, fire season

Mitigating smoke impacts on human health and safety is one of the challenges that landowners and agencies face when conducting prescribed burns. Particulate matter (PM) in smoke, produced by the combustion of fuels during burning, can aggravate respiratory ailments and reduce…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Models, Planning, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: smoke impacts, human health, PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, BlueSky

Introduction: Wildland fires degrade air quality and adversely affect human health. A growing body of epidemiology literature reports increased rates of emergency departments, hospital admissions and premature deaths from wildfire smoke exposure. Objective: Our research aimed to…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: TTRS
Topic(s): Economics, Emissions and Smoke, Hazard and Risk, Models, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: wildfires, air quality, Oregon, Idaho, Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, health impact assessment, source apportionment, PM2.5, ozone, CMAQ - Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System, wildland fires, southern California wildfires, particulate air pollution, hospital admissions, smoke exposure, mortality

Background Wildfire smoke is known to exacerbate respiratory conditions; however, evidence for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events has been inconsistent, despite biological plausibility. Methods and Results A population‐based epidemiologic analysis was conducted for daily…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Safety
Region(s): California
Keywords: PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, cardiovascular effects, cerebrovascular effects, air quality, air pollution, public health, smoke exposure, wildfires, human health

Exposure to wildland fire smoke is a community health issue that has gained the attention of public health professionals and organizations, especially in states where fires are becoming more frequent and intense. Emissions from wildland fire smoke has significant health…
Person: Rappold, Hano, Baghdikian
Year: 2018
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: wildfires, air quality, health effects, health vulnerability, CHVI - Community Health-Vulnerability Index, Smoke Sense, asthma, public health

To understand the health effects of wildfire smoke, it is important to accurately assess smoke exposure over space and time. Particulate matter (PM) is a predominant pollutant in wildfire smoke. In this study, we develop land-use regression (LUR) models to investigate the impact…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Models, Safety
Region(s): International
Keywords: wildfires, Alberta, Canada, pollution, air pollution, public health, smoke exposure, PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, AOD - aerosol optical depth, land use regression, spatial analysis

Air Resource Advisors provide a vast array of tools and products to predict and communicate smoke impacts during wildfires. Having a resource solely dedicated to smoke management and effective messaging improves both internal and external communication.
Person: Lahm
Year: 2018
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Models, Monitoring and Inventory, Outreach, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: wildfires, smoke impacts, ARA - Air Resource Advisor, smoke forecast, agency coordination, public communication, air quality

In the past few decades, wildfire activity has increased in the western United States and Canada, and can be attributed, at least in part, to a changing climate. The air pollution from wildfires has been associated with increased risk of exacerbations of respiratory disease,…
Person: Reid, Dodd
Year: 2018
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: public health, health impacts, air pollution, PM - particulate matter, wildfires, respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, Canada, Northwest Territories, mental health

During summer in early 2016, over 70 landscape fires in Tasmania (Australia) caused several severe episodes of fire smoke across the island state. To assess the health impact of the fire smoke, a case crossover analysis was performed, which measured the association between…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Safety
Region(s): International
Keywords: Australia, Tasmania, PM - particulate matter, LFS - landscape fire smoke, ambulance, PM2.5, air quality, public health

Fire managers use prescribed fire and some wildfires to meet resource management objectives, like restoring and maintaining ecological processes, watershed function, and wildlife habitat, as well as to reduce fuels and mitigate the risk of severe wildfires. However, public…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Mapping, Models, Monitoring and Inventory, Safety, Social Science, Weather
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: smoke impacts, air quality, remote sensing, human dimensions of wildland fire, wildfires, fire management, public perception, WFAQRP - Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program, ARA - Air Resource Advisor

The requirement to model wind is inherently connected with the modelling of many fire-related phenomena. With its defining influence on fire behaviour, spread and smoke transport, the solution of a problem with and without wind exposure will lead to substantially different…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Behavior, Models, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: wind, computational wind engineering, fire safety, CFD - Computational Fluid Dynamics, fire analysis

This presentation will show the connection between air quality and our changing environment including work done by ANTHC, the role of the National Tribal Air Association (NTAA) and the roles and goals of the Alaska representatives.
Person: Mullan
Year: 2018
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Safety
Region(s): Alaska
Keywords: climate change, air quality, CO2 - carbon dioxide, PM - particulate matter, dust, wildfires, O3 - ozone

This presentation will share lessons learned by the Yurok Tribe's Air Quality Coordinator during the Summer of 2017 wildfire disaster response in Northwest California.
Person: Hostler
Year: 2018
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Ecology, Fire Effects, Fire Occurrence, Prescribed Fire, Restoration and Rehabilitation, Safety
Region(s): California
Keywords: Yurok Tribe, 2017 fire season, wildfires, air quality, disaster response

Wildland fire smoke can impact public health and fire managers need to be aware of recent smoke science research findings to make informed decisions. In this fact sheet we seek to 'clear the air' by summarizing the progress of scientific research investigating the effects of…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Safety
Region(s): Southern
Keywords: PM - particulate matter, air quality, public health, health impacts

Compares the impacts that prescribed fires and wildfires have on air quality. One in a series of fire FAQs that are based on questions Forest & Natural Resource Extension agents and specialists have received from the people they serve.
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Prescribed Fire, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: wildfires, air quality, PM2.5, PM - particulate matter, public health

Wildfires are a major source of air pollutants in the United States. Wildfire smoke can trigger severe pollution episodes with substantial impacts on public health. In addition to acute episodes, wildfires can have a marginal effect on air quality at significant distances from…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Fuels, Mapping, Monitoring and Inventory, Safety
Region(s): California, Eastern, Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest
Keywords: wildfires, wildland fire, air pollutants, public health, MODIS - Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, MTBS - Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, NDVI - Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, burned area

AFSC fire ecologist Randi Jandt reviews the most recent evidence on how wildfire smoke affects human health, including the health of firefighters. From the Spring 2018 Alaska Fire Science Workshop.
Person: Jandt
Year: 2018
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Safety
Region(s): Alaska
Keywords: health effects, PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, PM10, respirator, VOC - volatile organic carbon, CO - carbon monoxide, respiratory disease, air quality, firefighter safety

The capacity of wildland fire science and technology in Canada is not keeping pace with the growing complexity of wildland fire. Fire seasons are becoming longer, fire events are becoming more severe, and experts predict that the area burned on an annual basis could double by…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Economics, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Behavior, Fire Effects, Hazard and Risk, Outreach, Planning, Safety, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): International
Keywords: Canada, public safety, fire science, wildland fire, Indigenous knowledge, fire management, resilience, fire research

Part of the Alaska Fire Science Consortium workshop, the presentation gave a report on the effects of a fire season on fire fighters.
Person: Coker
Year: 2018
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Safety
Region(s): Alaska
Keywords: firefighter safety, lipids, adipose tissue, fitness, stressors, skeletal muscle

Background: The frequency and intensity of wildfires is anticipated to increase as climate change creates longer, warmer, and drier seasons. Particulate matter (PM) from wildfire smoke has been linked to adverse respiratory and possibly cardiovascular outcomes. Children, older…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Safety
Region(s): California
Keywords: smoke exposure, San Diego County, AQI - Air Quality Index, PM - particulate matter, hospitalizations, respiratory illness, asthma, PM2.5

Background: The public health community readily recognizes flooding and wildfires as climate-related health hazards, but few studies quantify changes in risk of exposure, particularly for vulnerable children and older adults. Objectives: This study quantifies future populations…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Aquatic, Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Models, Planning, Safety
Region(s): California, Eastern, Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest
Keywords: climate change, flooding, public health, health hazards, CMIP5 - Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5

Implementing prescribed fire is a complex process that requires the coordination of many different agencies. Prior to implementing a prescribed burn, the trade-offs and benefits (such as smoke) are carefully assessed and planned. Clear objectives, specific desired outcomes,…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Planning, Prescribed Fire, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: prescribed fire objectives, fire management

Exposure to wildfire smoke averaged over 24-hour periods has been associated with a wide range of acute cardiopulmonary events, but little is known about the effects of sub-daily exposures immediately preceding these events. One challenge for studying sub-daily effects is the…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Models, Safety
Region(s): International
Keywords: fine particulate matter, British Columbia, Canada, air quality, wildfires, smoke exposure, PM - particulate matter

The National Wildfire Coordinating Group’s Smoke Committee with assistance from The Nature Conservancy, held a webinar focused on the emerging world of low-cost air quality sensors. Air quality sensors are a rapidly expanding segment of the air pollutant monitoring world. There…
Person: Benedict, Williams
Year: 2018
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Monitoring and Inventory, Planning, Prescribed Fire, Safety, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: air, monitoring, air pollution, smoke monitoring, smoke monitoring network

Fires that burn countryside - whether as bushfires, wildfires, prescribed burning, land clearing, regeneration burning - occur across the globe and emit ‘smoke’ that can significantly impact human populations and their health and safety, even those distant from the actual fires…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Fuels, Prescribed Fire, Safety, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): International
Keywords: Australia, bushfire, fire frequency