Wildland Fire Air Quality

Response Program 

Pete Lahm

Forest Service

Fire and Aviation Management 

Washington, D.C.

202-205-1084 // 602-432-2614 cell

Pete.lahm@gmail.com
An Evolving Interagency Program

- One in three households has someone with respiratory issues: child with 

asthma, COPD, emphysema, etc. 26 million have asthma in US.

- Address sensitive groups at risk: people with asthma, older adults and 

those of low income. Science: pregnant women 

- Public air quality warnings effective and at-risk public responds in kind

- NO particulate matter is healthy: Designations & SIPs

- Ozone EPA Science Analysis Effects 60ppb and below

- Medical costs: $8 to $80/day/person exposure to smoke

- Smoke impacts to public are longer at higher levels

- Wildfire Seasons longer and hotter

- US forests projected shift from carbon sink to source (USFS-RPA)

- Under the Clean Air Act, States obligated to respond and protect the 

public from high levels of air pollution

- Land managers know more of what the fire will do in terms of: fire 

spread, growth, intensity, burnouts, fuels, consumption, emissions, 

weather, duration,...

- Land managers using risk assessment to manage wildfires now.
Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program

Focus for wildland fires through use of Air Resource Advisors:

1) Smoke impacts to public health and safety

2) Transportation safety (roads & aviation for public & personnel)

3) Fire personnel smoke exposure (on-fireline, ICP, Base Camp)

Methods – Monitoring, Modeling, Messaging

 Monitoring – Deployment, Interpretation 

and Dissemination

 Cache of 20 E-SAMPLERs, 4 E-BAMs later

 Satellite linkage, data available real-time online

 Modeling – Incident & regional forecasting

of impacts

 BlueSky (via US Forest Service AirFire Team)

 Fine-scale (1 km) to national scale 

meteorology's – supplied by NWS, Univ of WA, 

Desert Research Institute
Monitoring, Modeling, Messaging

 Messaging

 Cohesive message (State Health & Air Quality 

Agencies, National Weather Service, blogs)

 Transportation Safety Alerts and Warnings 

 Incident public meetings 

 Cooperation with State Emergency Response 

Agencies

 Social Science research shows that people modify 

their behavior if they have information-social license

 Stakeholder and Partner Collaboration

 Planning & communication of fire strategy & tactics 

translated into smoke impacts and response

 State Emergency Response Plans for Wildfire Smoke

 EPA , CDC collaborative efforts
Transition from public health to 

public safety impacts 

Safety

Health
Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response

 National Effort

 Cadre of Air Resource Advisors (THSP-ARA) Developed

 Two Training Sessions Held – Trainee Program

 Range of Skills not 310-1 position but FSM 5109.34

 FS, BLM, FWS, NPS, NRCS, Contractor, EPA, States

 Coordination/dispatch via FS Smoke Lead (IMET Model)

 Dispatches: 2011- handful, 2012-13, 2013-25

 Requests: IC, SOPL, SOF1, FS Regions, 

 Assignments: Incident Level, State Level Program Efforts, 

Agency Admins. ,Area Command , GACC, 

Regional Wildfire Decision Support Centers
Want to learn more:

IAWF/NWCG SmoC October 2013 

International Smoke Symposium 

– All Presentations on-line at IAWF through October

Pete Lahm

202-205-1084 // 602-432-2614 cell

Pete.lahm@gmail.com 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

prohibits discrimination in all its programs and 

activities on the basis of race, color, national 

origin, age, disability, and where applicable, 

sex, marital status, familial status, parental 

status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic 

information, political beliefs, reprisal, or 

because all or a part of an individual's income 

is derived from any public assistance 

program. Photo courtesy Lorraine Vogt