For the first time, federal firefighters will be encouraged to wear respirators to protect them against smoke-related hazards as they work to put out wildland blazes.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The U.S.
Forest Service announced Wednesday that firefighters were authorized to use N95 respirators on the fire line, a major policy reversal as the agency for decades did not allow such protections, even as studies demonstrated the health harms of wildfire smoke.“It’s long, long overdue,” said George Broyles, a longtime USFS firefighter who has researched wildfire exposure risks.
“There’s no doubt that our men and women out there are at higher risk of cancer and heart disease.” To Broyles, the policy change represents a long-awaited acknowledgement from the Forest Service that wildfire smoke is toxic and that the agency ought to find ways to reduce its workers’ risks.The Forest Service has been slow to address the health effects of wildfire smoke and to enact worker protections in the difficult-to-control environment of a wildfire.
When wildfire smoke is inhaled, volatile gases and tiny particles can pass through the lining of the lungs and enter the bloodstream.In the broader U.S.
population, exposure to this smoke is associated with asthma, lung cancer and other chronic lung problems, as well as preterm birth and pregnancy loss.Wildland firefighters have a higher risk of lung cancer and cardiovascular disease, studies suggest.
The Forest Service also announced that it is initiating a decontamination program designed to reduce firefighters’ skin exposure to the toxins in soot and ash.Workers will be paid for the time they spend washing clothes, cleaning their vehicles and showering after working on a fire.The agency described the new policies as an interim step as it pursues a more robust protection program that complies with the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Heal...