Wildfire Preparedness, Prevention, and Response by Erin DeMerritt

Wildfires from within California and from outside the state have all had major air quality impacts in the San Francisco Bay Area. Protecting Air Quality and Public Health During Wildfires This article examines the air quality and public health impacts of wildfire smoke in the San Francisco Bay Area and details the strategies in place to prepare the community and minimize such impacts.

em • The Magazine for Environmental Managers • A&WMA • June 2020 Wildfire Preparedness, Prevention, and Response by Erin DeMerritt

The wildfires that have plagued California in recent years region. Figure 1 shows the hourly ambient concentrations are some of the deadliest and most destructive in the state’s of PM 2.5 in the Bay Area during the November 2018 Camp history, bringing unprecedented smoke and hazardous Fire, during which concentrations up to 302 µg/m 3 were breathing conditions to both rural and metropolitan commu - recorded. High concentrations of pollution were sustained nities. Recurring wildfires and dense smoke are the result of for 24 hours per day for two weeks, creating a public health years of impacts brought on by climate change as higher emergency as air quality ranged from unhealthy to hazardous. temperatures and longer dry periods lengthen the fire season and increase the risk of fires throughout the state. 1 Figure 2 lists the 20 days with the highest recorded ambient concentrations of particulate pollution in the Bay Area since In the San Francisco Bay Area, wildfire smoke has the poten - measurements began in 1999. While the Bay Area generally tial to impact large numbers of people due to the region’s enjoys good air quality, wildfires are erasing the gains we terrain and weather patterns that create conditions ideal for have made in reducing particulate matter pollution—16 of trapping and concentrating smoke near the ground. Winds the 20 most polluted days in this period are due to wildfires. can transport smoke long distances into communities far In 2017, 14 of the 18 days for which air quality exceeded the from where a fire originated, as seen during the November federal health standard for PM 2.5 were due to wildfire smoke. 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County when wind patterns spread In 2018, 16 of the 20 exceedance days were due to wildfire smoke into the Bay Area from over 200 miles away within smoke (see Figure 3). hours of the fire’s ignition. Although we know wildfire smoke causes immediate respira - Fires within the Bay Area (most notably the October 2017 tory health effects, the long-term effects of exposure to wild - North Bay wildfires in Sonoma and Napa counties), fires far fire pollution are not well understood. 2 Emergency room north of the region, and fires from outside the state have all visits due to respiratory and cardiac illness spiked by 20 per - had major air quality impacts in the Bay Area. The 24-hr cent compared to previous years in affected areas following 3 health standard for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) established the North Bay fires. Exposure to the PM 2.5 in wildfire smoke by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is 35 g/m 3; can impact even healthy adults, but protecting vulnerable 3 hourly PM 2.5 concentrations reached 435 µg/m duμring the populations like the homeless and the 1 in 7 people in the North Bay fires, a level never before experienced in the Bay Area that has a respiratory illness is of great concern.

Figure 1. Hourly PM 2.5 concentrations in the Bay Area during the November 2018 Camp Fire.

em • The Magazine for Environmental Managers • A&WMA • June 2020 Wildfire Preparedness, Prevention, and Response by Erin DeMerritt

Figure 2. Highest PM 2.5 pollution days in the Bay Area since 1999.

People living close to a fire that are instructed to evacuate or wildfires, and ensure health-protective measures and strate - those who lost their homes to a wildfire need protections in gies are in place during air pollution emergencies. The place during a smoke event. Since thousands may not have program is specific to the San Francisco Bay Area; however, filtered air available, a more robust and comprehensive pub - the principles can be widely applied. lic health strategy is required. The major facets of the program are: rule development, Wildfires are a pressing challenge for public health and envi - legislative initiatives, grants and incentives, partnerships, and ronmental professionals and action from community organiza - community information and resources. tions, fire protection agencies, and all levels of government is necessary to mitigate the risks associated with dense smoke. Rule Development With dangerous levels of air pollution likely to continue im - Despite hazardous pollution levels and a ban on wood burn - pacting air quality and public health, action must be taken to ing for almost two weeks during the November 2018 Camp support wildfire prevention and preparedness. Fire, 37 violations were issued for residential wood burning. In 2019, the Air District strengthened its wood burning rule Wildfire Preparedness, Prevention, to ban residential wood burning year-round on days when and Response PM 2.5 concentrations are expected to exceed the federal As the frequency and intensity of catastrophic wildfires like health standard. Smoke from the 1.4 million fireplaces in the those California experienced in 2017 and 2018 increases, Bay Area contributes over a third of regional PM 2.5 from the best public health strategy is to be aware that heavy No vember through February. The wood burning ban ensures smoke is in our future and to be prepared for smoke events. high concentrations of air pollution experienced during wild - fires are not exacerbated by residential wood burning activities. With the lessons learned from recent California wildfires, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District)—the To complement statewide fuel reduction efforts, the Air District regional agency responsible for protecting air quality in the amended an existing regulation to reduce potential cost barri - Bay Area—is implementing a multifaceted strategy to reduce ers associated with prescribed burning to prevent wildfires. the air quality and public health impacts from wildfire smoke. Prescribed burning is the burning of vegetation on selected The Wildfire Air Quality Response Program is intended to areas of land to safely reduce excess flammable fuels. The help the Bay Area prepare, prevent, and respond to future rule encourages prescribed burning year-round for wildfire

em • The Magazine for Environmental Managers • A&WMA • June 2020 Wildfire Preparedness, Prevention, and Response by Erin DeMerritt

Additional grant development is aimed at establishing clean air centers across the region and providing cleaner air at sheltering facilities and evacuation centers during emer - gencies. Investing in cleaner air facilities is a safe option to protect public health during air quality emergencies.

Partnerships and Regional Alliances Coordinating with regional partners prior to an emergency event en - sures health-protective

Figure 3. Bay Area PM 2.5 exceedance trend. actions are taken to pre - pare for future wildfire disasters and regional prevention and control by waiving associated fees charged to smoke impacts. The Air District formed partnerships with public agencies while balancing air quality needs. emergency managers, fire and public health officials, cities, and counties to development and implement response plans. Legislative Initiatives California Assembly Bill 836, signed by Governor Gavin Continued work with the U.S. Red Cross has allowed for the Newsom, provides funding for clean air centers to provide development of strategies for prioritizing better air filtration equitable access to filtered air—particularly for low-income at wildfire evacuation and shelter facilities. There are approxi - residents and communities with diverse racial and ethnic mately 1,000 facilities affiliated with the Red Cross in the populations. The law directs funding to build or retrofit nine Bay Area counties, including schools, recreation centers, ventilation systems with high-efficiency filtration to create a government buildings, and event centers. Through this network of clean air centers to mitigate the adverse public partnership, funding to purchase portable air filtration units health impacts due to wildfires, especially for vulnerable is provided for these facilities to enhance the Red Cross’ populations. 4 National Shelter System database.

The law allows local air districts to work with their communi - Community Information and Resources ties to identify publicly accessible locations, such as schools, A critical challenge during the North Bay fires was hospitals, libraries, community centers, and senior centers, coordinating consistent messaging across agencies. Discus - for designation as clean air shelters. To balance need and sions with public health officers began following the 2017 equity issues, facilities in areas that experience a higher con - fires to develop consistent wildfire public health information centration of air pollution than other areas in the region are and preparedness tips to protect the public from smoke prioritized to efficiently create clean air shelters where they mpacts. The main principles of public health messaging are needed most. during and before smoke events are to weatherize homes and buildings, shelter in place or go to a clean air center, Grants and Incentives and remember that protection from intense heat takes Aiding residents who lose their homes to wildfires is a signifi - precedence over exposure to unhealthy air quality. This cant aspect of recovery and offers an opportunity to minimize health messaging should be kept simple, consistent, and the climate impacts of new constructions. In Sonoma and repeated often. Napa counties, over 5,500 residences were destroyed by the 2017 wildfires. The Wildfire Recovery Assistance Program pro - The addition of various other organizations and associations, vides rebates for Bay Area residents that have lost their homes such as Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative, Air Quality in wildfires to support rebuild efforts and encourage the build - Communications Alliance, and the San Francisco Department ing of energy-efficient homes that reduce climate impacts. of Emergency Management, worked to align messaging with

em • The Magazine for Environmental Managers • A&WMA • June 2020 Wildfire Preparedness, Prevention, and Response by Erin DeMerritt

applicable agencies and develop a regional communications class cancellations. Recommendations (https://www.face - toolkit (https://www.sccgov.org/sites/oes/partners/Documents/ book.com/photo?fbid=2616760928416194&set=a.95466 by-area-aq-msg-toolkit.pdf). The toolkit facilitates regional 1744626129) were provided for each level of the air quality discussions on protective health measures for air quality index to provide the information in an easily understood, incidents, provides public information resources to local health-based format. municipalities, and includes guidance for disseminating accurate, timely, relevant, and accessible public information Conclusion for all populations. Wildfires occur without warning, quickly degrade air quality, and pose immediate health risks—but we can be prepared. Through collaboration with California Air Pollution Control Through action to support wildfire prevention and minimize Officers Association, guidance was developed to assist the consequences of wildfire pollution, we can protect air qual - schools with making decisions about outdoor activities and ity and public health during these extraordinary times. em

Erin DeMerritt is a Public Information Officer with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, San Francisco, CA. E-mail: [email protected].

References 1. Westerling, A.L.R. Increasing western U.S. forest wildfire activity: Sensitivity to changes in the timing of spring; Phil. Trans. R. Soc. 2016, B 371, 20150178; http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0178. 2. Reid, C.E.; Considine, E.; Watson, G.; Telesca, D.; Pfister, G.G.; Jerrett, M. Associations between ozone and fine particulate matter with respiratory health during a wildfire event; Environ. Int. 2019, 129 , 291-298; doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.04.033. 3. Glantz, A.; Neilson, S. The smoke’s gone, but hearts and lungs still may be in danger months after wildfires; Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, 2018; https://www.revealnews.org/article/the-smokes-gone-but-hearts-and-lungs-still-may-be-in-danger-months-after-wildfires/. 4. Assem. Bill 836, 2019. Reg. Sess. (Cal. 2019).

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em • The Magazine for Environmental Managers • A&WMA • June 2020