Fighting Wildfires

Key Resources

Worker Safety During Fire Cleanup
CDC Fact Sheet details types of hazards that workers may face during fire clean up efforts, including electrical hazards, carbon monoxide poisoning, musculoskeletal hazards, heat stress, hazardous materials, & confined spaces.

Fact Sheet: What You Should Know In Deciding Whether to Buy Escape Hoods, Gas Masks, or Other Respirators for Preparedness at Home and Work
Provides information on what respirators are, how they work, and what is needed for a respirator to provide adequate protection.

Working in Hot Environments
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 86-112 (April 1986)
Reprinted 1992, with Minor Changes
En Español
This publication discusses the safety and health consequences of heat stress.

Hazard ID: Fire Fighters Exposed to Electrical Hazards During Wildland Fire Operations
En Español
NIOSH investigated two separate incidents in 1999 in which fire fighters died or were seriously injured from exposures to electricity while fighting wildland fires.

Related NIOSH Topic Pages

Heat Stress

Respirators:

• NIOSH Guide to the Selection and Use of Particulate Respirators
• 42 CFR Part 84 Respirator Regulations - Includes the test requirements that a filter and respirator must meet for NIOSH to grant an approval to a manufacturer.
• NIOSH Certified Equipment List

Firefighters

Emergency Response Resources:

• Natural Disasters
• Disaster Site Management

Electrical Safety

Health Hazard Evaluations

NIOSH conducts Health Hazard Evaluations (HHEs) to find out whether there are health hazards to employees caused by exposures or conditions in the workplace.

Some recent HHE reports related to firefighting have been listed below. For a comprehensive listing of HHE reports please search the HHE Database.

• HHE Report NO. HETA 98-0173-2782, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado  PDF only  387 KB (24 pages)
  
  
• HHE Report No. HETA-92-045-2260, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, New River Gorge National River, West Virginia  PDF only  196 KB (17 pages)
  
  
• HHE Report No. HETA-91-312-2185, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Gallatin National Forest, Montana  PDF only  240 KB (19 pages)
  
  
• HHE Report No. HETA-90-395-2121, International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), Sedgwick County, Kansas  PDF only  196 KB (21 pages)
  
  
• HHE Report No. HETA-90-0365-2415, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Yosemite National Park, California  PDF only  10.6 MB (67 pages)
  
  
• HHE Report No. HETA-88-320-2176, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming  PDF only  353 KB (43 pages)
  
  
• Health Hazard Evaluation Report HETA 96-0171-2692, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, Washington, DC  PDF only  432 KB (29 pages)
  

Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Reports

The NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Program conducts investigations of fire fighter line-of-duty deaths to formulate recommendations for preventing future deaths and injuries.

Selected FACE Reports on Fighting Wildfires:

• Two Volunteer Fire Fighters Die While Fighting a Wildland Fire - Kentucky
  
  
• Forest Ranger II Dies After Receiving Second- and Third-Degree Burns Operating a Crawler Tractor (Bulldozer) While Clearing Vegetation During a Wildland Fire - Arkansas
  
  
• Volunteer Fire Fighter Dies During Wildland Fire Suppression - South Dakota
  
  
• Fire Fighter Suffers Heart Arrhythmia and Dies at Wildland Fire - Washington
  
  
• Junior Volunteer Fire Fighter Dies in Tanker Rollover - Tennessee
  
  
• Volunteer Fire Fighter Dies After Being Run Over by Brush Truck During Grass Fire Attack - Texas
  
  
• Volunteer Fire Fighter Dies and Two are Injured in Engine Rollover - Alabama
  
  
• Volunteer Fire Fighter Died and a Second Was Seriously Injured After Fuel Tank Explosion - Iowa
  

Search All FACE Reports related to Fighting Wildfires with NIOSHTIC-2
 is a searchable bibliographic database of occupational safety and health publications, documents, grant reports, and journal articles supported in whole or in part by NIOSH.

Other NIOSH Publications

Hazard ID: Traffic Hazards to Fire Fighters While Working Along Roadways
En Español
The number of fire fighters struck and killed by motor vehicles has dramatically increased within recent years. This document details case studies and provides recommendations for prevention.

Other Resources

Fire Safety - CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response Web Site

National Interagency Fire Center
External Link: http://www.nifc.gov/

Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management Web site
External Link: http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/

Firewise.org
External Link: http://www.firewise.org/

Firewise Library
External Link: http://www.firewise.org/library/

Firefighter Safety in the Wildland/Urban Interface
External Link: http://www.firewise.org/pubs/firefighter_safety/main.html

California Department of Health Services Web SIte:

State Health Director Offers Advice to Public on How to Protect Health During Wildfires
http://www.applications.dhs.ca.gov/pressreleases/store/pressreleases/03-85%20oes%20logo.html

State Health Director Warns Of Smoke from Southern California Fires
External Link: http://www.applications.dhs.ca.gov/pressreleases/store/pressreleases/03-84.html