wildfire smoke

New research shows that wildfires are a major contributor to ozone pollution, and can significantly exceed the impacts of human-generated emissions.

In recent months, concern about the health risks wildland firefighters face has been growing. Now a major conference exploring that issue has started in Colorado.

The federal government has issued new guidelines to wildland firefighters for the voluntary use of protective masks. The move comes as knowledge of long-term health risks faced by such workers – including cancer – grows.

Prescribed burns are widely recognized as an effective wildfire mitigation tool. Now, using satellite imagery, land management records and fire emissions data, a team of researchers has put hard numbers to those impacts.

More than 200 people are working from the air and on the ground to suppress the fire despite erratic winds.

Federal forecasters say there is above-average potential for significant wildfires all the way through the end of September across a vast swath of the Western U.S.

Most of the states in our region have at least one county that violates the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Ambient Air Quality Standard.

Much of southern Arizona and New Mexico are expected to see above average potential for wildfire in April.

Nearby smoke plumes can drop generation substantially, but smoke that blows in from distant blazes appears to have only a "modest" effect.

Researchers pored over roughly four dozen papers that assessed exposure to various carcinogens on the fireline. They identified 31 carcinogens – including asbestos, volatile organic compounds like benzene and crystalline silica.