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As wildfire risks have elevated due to climate change, the health risks that toxicants from fire smoke pose to wildland firefighters have been exacerbated. Recently, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has reclassified wildland firefighters’…
Person:
Year: 2023
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Prescribed Fire, Safety, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: wildfire, firefighter, multi-pollutant mixtures, occupational health, environmental health, exposure assessment, wildfire management, respiratory protection

Prescribed fire is an increasingly important tool in restoring ecological conditions and reducing uncontrolled wildfire. Prescribed burn techniques could reduce public health impacts associated with wildfire smoke exposure. However, there have…
Person:
Year: 2022
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Prescribed Fire, Safety, Social Science
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: smoke exposure, social and health burden, public health, sociodemographic variables, health impacts, vulnerable populations

[From the Report Summary] Background: The American Lung Association commissioned a report, written by PSE Healthy Energy, to answer the question: What does the current research say about the potential of prescribed fire to mitigate the increasing health and air…
Person:
Year: 2022
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Hazard and Risk, Prescribed Fire, Safety, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: health risk, wildfire smoke, air quality risk, catastrophic wildfire, lung health, harmful smoke exposure

Prescribed fire, intentionally ignited low-intensity fires, and managed wildfires—wildfires that are allowed to burn for land management benefit—could be used as a land management tool to create forests that are resilient to wildland fire. This could lead to fewer large…
Person:
Year: 2018
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Prescribed Fire
Region(s): California, Eastern, Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest
Keywords: wildfire, PM - particulate matter, public health, exposure, PM2.5

Increasing wildfire size and severity across the western United States has created an environmental and social crisis that must be approached from a transdisciplinary perspective. This presentation will summarize a recently published article in Current Environmental
Person: Smith, D’Evelyn
Year: 2022
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Outreach, Planning, Prescribed Fire, Restoration and Rehabilitation, Safety, Social Science
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: smoke exposure, forest management, fire management, human health, environmental justice, smoke impacts, wildfire preparedness, air pollution, health impacts, respiratory effects, cardiovascular effects, adaptive capacity, partnerships, integrated management, collaborative partnerships, Indigenous Peoples, social equity

Smoke exposure data among U.S. wildland firefighters for carbon monoxide, respirable particulate and respirable crystalline silica are presented from a field surveillance program between 2009 and 2012. Models to predict fireline-average exposure…
Person:
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Prevention, Models, Prescribed Fire, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: CO - carbon monoxide, firefighters, quartz, silica, wildfires, smoke exposure, firefighter health

Smoke from wildfires presents one of the greatest threats to air quality, public health, and ecosystems in the United States, especially in the West. Here we quantify the efficacy of prescribed burning as an intervention for mitigating smoke exposure…
Person:
Year: 2023
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Hazard and Risk, Outreach, Prescribed Fire, Safety, Social Science, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): California, Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southwest
Keywords: fine particulate matter, PM2.5, mitigating wildfire impacts, environmental justice, smoke exposure, public health, atmospheric chemistry transport modeling, satellite observations, prescribed burning effectiveness, air quality

Catastrophic wildfires in the western United States pose significant risks to public health, infrastructure, and ecosystems. As these wildfires become more frequent, there is a growing need for a common methodology to identify suitable locations for prescribed…
Person: Kelp
Year: 2023
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Hazard and Risk, Outreach, Prescribed Fire, Safety, Social Science, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): California, Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southwest
Keywords: smoke exposure, atmospheric chemistry transport modeling, mitigating wildfire impacts, satellite observations, prescribed burning effectiveness, air quality, environmental justice, fine particulate matter, PM2.5, public health

Landscape fires can produce large quantities of smoke that degrade air quality in both remote and urban communities. Smoke from these fires is a complex mixture of fine particulate matter and gases, exposure to which is associated with increased respiratory and…
Person:
Year: 2016
Type: Document
Source: TTRS
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Hazard and Risk, Prescribed Fire
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: wildfires, air quality, Canada, Landscape Fire Smoke, wildfire smoke, portable air cleaners, HEPA filter - high effieciency particulate air filter, Intervention, particulate matter, wildfire smoke, cardiovascular health, Indoor Particles, forest fire, Intervention, impacts, Filtration, pollution, exposure

Air pollution is an environmental health concern throughout the world, and is responsible for an estimated 1 out of 8 deaths. As a common component of air pollution, particulate matter (PM) is one of six criteria air pollutants regulated by the Environmental…
Person:
Year: 2015
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Prevention, Prescribed Fire, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: PM - particulate matter, EPA - Environmental Protection Agency, biomass burning, air pollution, wood smoke, human health, firefighters

Roger Ottmar, Research Forester with the USFS Pacific Northwest Fire & Environmental Research Applications Team, gave a talk on air quality, wildfire smoke components and smoke impacts on human health with an eye to how air quality regulations may impact…
Person: Ottmar
Year: 2017
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Planning, Prescribed Fire, Regulations and Legislation, Safety, Social Science
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: firefighter health, air quality, public health, visibility, PM - particulate matter, pollutants, CO - carbon monoxide, ozone, water vapor, transportation safety, NAAQS - National Ambient Air Quality Standards, smoke management, smoke exposure

Exposure to smoke emitted from wildfire and planned burns (i.e., smoke events) has been associated with numerous negative health outcomes, including respiratory symptoms and conditions. This rapid review investigates recent evidence (post-2009)…
Person:
Year: 2017
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Hazard and Risk, Prescribed Fire, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: risk communication, public health, dissemination, information sharing, health risk, literature review

The American Lung Association recently released a report titled "Can Prescribed Fire Mitigate Health Harm? A Review of Air Quality and Public Health Implications of Wildfire and Prescribed Fire." This report, commissioned by the American Lung…
Person:
Year: 2022
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Hazard and Risk, Prescribed Fire, Safety, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: health risk, air quality risk, catastrophic wildfire, lung health, wildfire smoke exposure, harmful smoke exposure

Rapidly scaling up the use of prescribed fire is being promoted as an important pathway for reducing the growing damages of wildfire events in the United States, including limiting the health impacts from smoke emissions. However, we do not currently have the…
Person:
Year: 2022
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Prescribed Fire
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: benefit analysis, cost benefit analysis, human health, knowledge gap, public acceptability, wildfires, wildfire management

Objective: A repeated measures study was used to assess the effect of work tasks on select proinflammatory biomarkers in firefighters working at prescribed burns. Methods: Ten firefighters and two volunteers were monitored for particulate matter and carbon monoxide on workdays,…
Person:
Year: 2017
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Prescribed Fire, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: firefighter exposure, smoke exposure, interleukin-8

A series of presentations in which experts explore the trade-offs between wildfire, prescribed fire, forest health, and public health in a one day public forum. This seminar event was hosted by the University of British Columbia on April 18th,…
Person:
Year: 2016
Type: Website
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Behavior, Fire Effects, Models, Monitoring and Inventory, Prescribed Fire, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: smoke management, public health, fire management, air quality, smoke prediction

Fires are increasing in frequency, size and intensity partly due to climate change and land management practices, yet there is limited knowledge of the impacts of smoke emissions - both short term and long term. EPA is using its expertise in air quality research to fill the gaps…
Person:
Year: 2017
Type: Website
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Aquatic, Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Monitoring and Inventory, 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 quality, climate change, public health, smoke management, health impacts, wildfires, water supply, research, community protection

Smoke from wildland fire presents a serious and growing concern. Mirroring global trends in recent decades, many areas of the US are experiencing increasing wildfire size, severity, and frequency. The health hazard of smoke from wildland fire has been well-…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Communications, Economics, Emissions and Smoke, Prescribed Fire, Social Science
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: public perceptions, wildfire, managed fire, public tolerance of smoke, literature review, public health, manager perceptions, NWFSC - Northwest Fire Science Consortium

In recent decades, as wildland fire occurrence has increased in the United States, concern about the emissions produced by wildland fires has increased as well. This growing concern is evidenced by an increase in scientific articles investigating effects of wildland smoke on…
Person:
Year: 2020
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Fire Occurrence, Prescribed Fire
Region(s): Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest
Keywords: air quality, biomass burning, CO2 - carbon dioxide, grasslands, O3 - ozone, public health, rangelands, wildland, literature review

[from the text] Under this strategy, the Forest Service will work with partners to engineer a paradigm shift by focusing fuels and forest health treatments more strategically and at the scale of the problem, using the best available science as the guide. At the…
Person:
Year: 2022
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Behavior, Fire Effects, Fire Prevention, Fuels, Hazard and Risk, Outreach, Planning, Prescribed Fire, Restoration and Rehabilitation, Social Science, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: resilience, climate change, forest health, fireshed, fuel treatment, ignition, National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (Cohesive Strategy), wildfires, land management, fire-adapted communities

Air quality impacts from wildfires have been dramatic in recent years, with millions of people exposed to elevated and sometimes hazardous fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations for extended periods. Fires emit particulate matter (PM) and gaseous compounds that can…
Person:
Year: 2020
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Prescribed Fire, Safety
Region(s): California, Eastern, Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest
Keywords: air quality, human health, PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, health effects, respiratory health, cardiovascular health, wildfire, AQI - Air Quality Index, remote sensing, emission factors

Wildfire smoke is typically a mixture of water vapor, gases, fine particles, and trace minerals from burning fuels like trees and vegetation, other organic components, and, sometimes, building materials.
Person:
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Fire Prevention, Fuels, Prescribed Fire
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: air quality, PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, PM10, smoke exposure, public health

Little is known about public tolerance of smoke from wildland fires. By combining data from two household surveys, we sought to determine whether tolerance of smoke from wildland fires varies with its origin or managerial rationale, to describe geographical variation in…
Person:
Year: 2016
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES, TTRS
Topic(s): Communications, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Prevention, Outreach, Prescribed Fire, Safety, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: forest management, public health, tolerance, public acceptance, wildfires, survey, fire suppression, lightning caused fires, Oregon, South Carolina, Montana, Idaho, Texas, Louisiana, air quality, health factors, slash, thinning, fire management, smoke management, smoke effects

The impact of smoke on human health is a factor that is taken into account when forest managers are planning prescribed burns. David Weise, a research forester with the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, explains how research seeks to…
Person:
Year: 2019
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Planning, Prescribed Fire, Weather
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: human health, Clean Air Act, air quality

Increasing fire impacts across North America are associated with climate and vegetation change, greater exposure through development expansion, and less-well studied but salient social vulnerabilities. We are at a critical moment in the contemporary human-fire…
Person:
Year: 2022
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Hazard and Risk, Planning, Prescribed Fire, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): California, Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southwest
Keywords: PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, smoke management, resilience, environmental justice, hazard reduction, SETS - social-environmental-technological systems, climate change, wildfires