# 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: 

### I AWF/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