Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
1,851
result(s) for
"Wildfire fighter."
Sort by:
On the fireline
In this rugged account of a rugged profession, Matthew Desmond explores the heart and soul of the wildland firefighter. Having joined a firecrew in Northern Arizona as a young man, Desmond relates his experiences with intimate knowledge and native ease, adroitly balancing emotion with analysis and action with insight. On the Fireline shows that these firefighters aren’t the adrenaline junkies or romantic heroes as they’re so often portrayed. An immersion into a dangerous world, On the Fireline is also a sophisticated analysis of a high-risk profession—and a captivating read.
eBook
Coexisting with wildfire: strengthening collective capacity by changing the status quo
This article is the fuller written version of the invited closing plenary given by the author at the
10th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress
. The article provides a consideration of our capacity to cope, care, and coexist in a fiery world from a social and structural point of view. It focuses on privilege as the root cause of a long and troublesome history within the wildfire profession of not valuing all generational knowledge equally, not treating all cultures with the same respect, not embracing diversity and inclusion, and not affording the same status to all disciplines and voices. The article argues that we can strengthen our collective capacity to coexist with wildfire by embracing local and indigenous fire stewardship practices, by enabling workforce diversity and inclusive leadership culture, and by providing sustainable working conditions for wildland firefighters. To do so requires individual and collective noticing of what is wrong, and everyday action steps towards equity.
Journal Article
Environmental health of wildland firefighters: a scoping review
Background
Wildland firefighters are likely to experience heightened risks to safety, health, and overall well-being as changing climates increase the frequency and intensity of exposure to natural hazards. Working at the intersection of natural resource management and emergency response, wildland firefighters have multidimensional careers that often incorporate elements from disparate fields to accomplish the tasks of suppressing and preventing wildfires. Thus, they have distinctly different job duties than other firefighters (e.g., structural firefighters) and experience environmental health risks that are unique to their work. We conducted a systematic scoping review of scientific literature that addresses wildland firefighter environmental health. Our goal was to identify studies that specifically addressed wildland firefighters (as opposed to firefighters in a broader sense), geographic and demographic trends, sample sizes, patterns in analysis, and common categories of research.
Results
Most studies have clustered in a few highly developed countries, and in the United States within California and Idaho. Many studies fail to consider the impact that demographic factors may have on their results. The number of studies published annually is increasing and themes are broadening to include social and psychological topics; however, most authors in the field have published an average of < 3 articles.
Conclusions
We identify three areas that we believe are imminent priorities for researchers and policymakers, including a lack of diversity in study geography and demography, a need for more complex and interactive analyses of exposure, and prioritization of wildland firefighters in research funding and focus.
Journal Article
Carbon monoxide exposures in wildland firefighters in the United States and targets for exposure reduction
BackgroundEvery year thousands of wildland firefighters (WFFs) work to suppress wildfires to protect public safety, health, and property. Although much effort has been put toward mitigating air pollutant exposures for the public and WFFs, the current burden in this worker population is unclear as are the most effective exposure reduction strategies.ObjectiveQuantify fireline carbon monoxide (CO) exposures in WFFs and identify predictors of exposures.MethodsWe collected 1-min breathing zone CO measurements on 246 WFFs assigned to fires between 2015 and 2017. We used generalized estimating equations to evaluate predictors of CO exposure.ResultsApproximately 5% of WFFs had fireline CO exposure means exceeding the National Wildfire Coordinating Group’s occupational exposure limit of 16 ppm. Relative to operational breaks, direct suppression-related job tasks were associated with 56% (95% CI: 47%, 65%) higher geometric mean CO concentrations, adjusted for incident type, crew type, and fire location. WFF perception of smoke exposure was a strong predictor of measured CO exposure.SignificanceSpecific job tasks related to direct suppression and WFF perceptions of smoke exposure are potential opportunities for targeted interventions aimed at minimizing exposure to smoke.
Journal Article
Environmental health hazards and wildland firefighting: a qualitative analysis
Background
Despite growing attention to wildland firefighter safety, little is known about the full scope of environmental health hazards experienced occupationally. Previous research has documented exposures to carcinogens and combustion byproducts from smoke, dust, ash, engine exhaust, ignition devices, and location-specific chemical and radiological hazards. With growing attention to firefighters’ health outcomes, more research is needed on the environmental health hazards that they experience routinely and non-routinely. Qualitative research is well suited for exploratory investigations of environmental hazards. This study draws on a long-term ethnographic research project with federal wildland firefighters in Oregon to identify the environmental health hazards that wildland firefighters experience. I took detailed fieldnotes during participant observation working as a wildland firefighter with federal engine and handcrews. I also shadowed an incident management team, attended relevant meetings and trainings, and conducted 22 semi-structured interviews. I analyzed all data in NVivo, a computer program for coding qualitative data.
Results
Wildland firefighters were aware of commonly identified hazards of their work, including smoke exposure, heat, and “human factors” such as fatigue and diet. Firefighters experience additional hazards that are rarely discussed. Routine but generally unacknowledged hazards include non-vegetation smoke, dust, chemicals in gear and equipment, and fuels and exhaust. Incident- and location-specific hazards include food and water quality concerns, hazards in government housing, and military, radiation, industrial, and mining hazards. Addressing these hazards is challenging because of both practical and cultural barriers.
Conclusion
This exploratory cataloguing of the environmental health hazards faced by wildland firefighters is unlikely to be surprising to firefighters themselves, yet most of these hazards are underrecognized by land management agencies and researchers, and are incompletely mitigated in the work environment. Many of these hazards are (largely) invisible to those not working on the fireline or are only discussed in isolation, rather than as part of a cumulative or holistic understanding of firefighter health and safety. More attention by fire management agencies, fire leadership, and researchers is needed to the full range of hazards experienced by wildland firefighters.
Journal Article
Characterization of Wildland Firefighters’ Exposure to Coarse, Fine, and Ultrafine Particles; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; and Metals, and Estimation of Associated Health Risks
Firefighters’ occupational activity causes cancer, and the characterization of exposure during firefighting activities remains limited. This work characterizes, for the first time, firefighters’ exposure to (coarse/fine/ultrafine) particulate matter (PM) bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metal(loid)s during prescribed fires, Fire 1 and Fire 2 (210 min). An impactor collected 14 PM fractions, the PM levels were determined by gravimetry, and the PM-bound PAHs and metal(loid)s were determined by chromatographic and spectroscopic methodologies, respectively. Firefighters were exposed to a total PM level of 1408.3 and 342.5 µg/m[sup.3] in Fire 1 and Fire 2, respectively; fine/ultrafine PM represented more than 90% of total PM. Total PM-bound PAHs (3260.2 ng/m[sup.3] in Fire 1; 412.1 ng/m[sup.3] in Fire 2) and metal(loid)s (660.8 ng/m[sup.3] versus 262.2 ng/m[sup.3] ), distributed between fine/ultrafine PM, contained 4.57–24.5% and 11.7–12.6% of (possible/probable) carcinogenic PAHs and metal(loid)s, respectively. Firefighters’ exposure to PM, PAHs, and metal(loid)s were below available occupational limits. The estimated carcinogenic risks associated with the inhalation of PM-bound PAHs (3.78 × 10[sup.−9] − 1.74 × 10[sup.−6] ) and metal(loid)s (1.50 × 10[sup.−2] − 2.37 × 10[sup.−2] ) were, respectively, below and 150–237 times higher than the acceptable risk level defined by the USEPA during 210 min of firefighting activity and assuming a 40-year career as a firefighter. Additional studies need to (1) explore exposure to (coarse/fine/ultrafine) PM, (2) assess health risks, (3) identify intervention needs, and (4) support regulatory agencies recommending mitigation procedures to reduce the impact of fire effluents on firefighters.
Journal Article
Preliminary Assessment of Tunic Off-Gassing after Wildland Firefighting Exposure
Evidence has previously shown that outer tunics (turnout coats) worn by firefighters at structural fires are contaminated with harmful chemicals which subsequently off-gas from the material. However, there is limited research on whether this phenomenon extends to wildland firefighter uniforms. This pilot study aimed to explore if the tunics of volunteer bushfire and forestry firefighters in Western Australia off-gas any contaminants after exposure to prescribed burns or bushfires, and whether there is a need to explore this further. Nine tunics were collected from firefighters following nine bushfire and prescribed burn events, with a set of unused tunics serving as a control. Chemical analysis was performed on these tunics to assess levels of acrolein, benzene, formaldehyde, and sulphur dioxide contamination. The assessment involved measuring chemical off-gassing over a 12 h period using infrared spectrometry. Tunics worn by firefighters appear to adsorb acrolein, benzene, formaldehyde, and sulphur dioxide from bushfire smoke and these contaminants are emitted from firefighting tunics following contamination at elevated concentrations. Further investigation of this research with a larger study sample will be beneficial to understand this phenomenon better and to determine the full extent and range of chemical contaminants absorbed by all firefighter clothing.
Journal Article
The Urgent Need for Cardiopulmonary Fitness Evaluation among Wildland Firefighters in Thailand
Wildland firefighting is a high-risk occupation. The level of cardiopulmonary fitness can indicate whether wildland firefighters are ready to perform their job duties. This study’s objective was to determine wildland firefighters’ cardiopulmonary fitness using practical methods. This cross-sectional descriptive study aimed to enroll all 610 active wildland firefighters in Chiang Mai. The participants’ cardiopulmonary fitness was assessed using an EKG, a chest X-ray, a spirometry test, a global physical activity questionnaire, and the Thai score-based cardiovascular risk assessment. The NFPA 1582 was used to determine “fitness” and “job restriction”. Fisher’s exact and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare cardiopulmonary parameters. With a response rate of 10.16%, only eight wildland firefighters met the cardiopulmonary fitness requirements. Eighty-seven percent of participants were in the job-restriction group. An aerobic threshold of eight METs, an abnormal EKG, an intermediate CV risk, and an abnormal CXR were the causes of restriction. The job-restriction group had a higher 10-year CV risk and higher systolic blood pressure, although these differences were not statistically significant. The wildland firefighters were unfit for their task requirements and were more at risk of cardiovascular health compared to the estimated risk of the general Thai population. To improve the health and safety of wildland firefighters, pre-placement exams and health surveillance are urgently needed.
Journal Article
A National Map of Snag Hazard to Reduce Risk to Wildland Fire Responders
Falling trees and tree fragments are one of the top five causes of fatalities for wildland fire responders. In six out of ten recent years, at least one fatality from a tree strike has occurred while a fire responder was on duty, and others were injured. We used TreeMap, a national map of forest characteristics, including individual tree height, diameter, and status (live or dead), to generate a map of snag hazard for forested areas of the continental U.S. at 30 × 30 m resolution. Snag hazard was classified into categories of low, moderate, high, or extreme based on snag density and height. Within-class accuracy was as high at 86%, suggesting that the Snag Hazard map can help wildland fire managers identify and avoid exposing fire responders to hazardous conditions. Accuracy was higher outside recently disturbed areas (88%) than inside (79%), perhaps reflecting strong spatial patterns and heterogeneity of mortality within disturbed areas. The Snag Hazard map is a frequently requested product from the Forest Service’sRisk Management Assistance Group. The goal of RMA is to provide analytics to decision makers and fire leadership to facilitate risk-informed decision-making to improve safety, effectiveness, and outcomes. We present a case study showing how the Snag Hazard 2016 map was used to inform fire responders during an active wildfire incident in California during the 2020 fire season.
Journal Article