ERIS

The Environmental Research Institute of the States

wildfire

U.S. EPA Highlights Collaborations with State Partners

U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) coordinated videos to highlight examples of how ORD research and technical assistance, in partnership with states and regions, helped tackle environmental challenges and deliver the solutions they need. The videos, published at the ECOS Fall Meeting in 2024, showcase interviews with state environmental agency leaders, including Katrina Kessler (MN) and Leah Feldon (OR) who serve on the ERIS Board. The 4 videos highlight how each state collaborated with ORD to tackle a priority challenge and exemplify how other states can learn about available EPA resources and science-based tools to assist them in protecting human health and the environment.

  • EPA ORD & MPCA Collaboration on St. Louis River Area of Concern
  • EPA ORD & UT DEQ Collaboration on Detecting HABs with the CyAN App
  • EPA ORD & NJ DEP Collaboration on Legionella in Drinking Water
  • EPA ORD & OR DEQ Collaboration on Wildfires

Cleaner Indoor Air During Wildfires: Phase II Challenge Winners

Winners will share their innovative prototypes for low-cost solutions that safely reduce indoor fine particulate matter during periods when outdoor PM2.5 concentrations are high. Attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions during a fifteen-minute Q&A session following presentations. ​

Wildland Fire Smoke Tools

Wildland fire has shaped many of the ecosystems of the planet, and for millennia humans have used it as a tool to manage the environment. When widespread wildfires occur, the health and daily lives of millions of people can be affected by the smoke, often at unhealthy to hazardous levels. Recent years have been quite notable in the continental scale of wildfire smoke affecting millions of people. These smoke impacts are highly episodic, with great variability from day to day and year to year, making it extremely difficult to simulate and predict. Land Managers also use prescribed fire to manage and restore the natural environment and to help mitigate the potential for large wildfires. The USDA Forest Service has been working for many years to develop tools and information to aid Land Managers conducting prescribed burning and the many agency personnel addressing wildfire smoke impacts. A smoke prediction system known as BlueSky has been under development for many years calculating fire emissions and running as a smoke dispersion forecast. It is based on fire ecology and combustion research, calculating fire emissions using mapped fuel loadings from the Fuel Characteristic Classification System (FCCS), modeling combustion and heat released with the CONSUME consumption model, and applying emission factors supplied from Smoke Emission Reference Application (SERA). The system is automated to provide smoke forecast runs daily and is also at the user’s fingertips to do their own smoke modeling in BlueSky playground. Foundational to these endeavors are NOAA tools and information such as HYSPLIT, NAM forecast meteorological datasets, and satellite fire detections from several instruments. This presentation will profile these items and more.

Preparing for Wildland Fire Smoke

This webinar highlights the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Planning Framework for Protecting Commercial Building Occupants from Smoke During WildfiresEXIT EPA WEBSITE. The Planning Framework is a publicly available resource developed by government and industry experts that provides building managers for public and commercial buildings, including schools, with advice on steps to reduce smoke exposures that can occur indoors during wildfires and prescribed burning. In addition, EPA researchers will share examples from field studies in Missoula, MT and the Hoopa Valley Tribe in Hoopa, CA to better understand indoor air quality in public and commercial buildings under typical ambient conditions and when smoke events occur. These examples include the impact of building characteristics and ventilation systems on indoor air quality during smoke episodes.

Wildfire Resources

ERIS is aware of the challenges to minimize and strains of state resources to mitigate the environmental effects of wildfires. As wildfires continue to rage in the western U.S., ERIS is compiling research and resoures to assist state environmental agencies in their efforts. The homepage of the ERIS webpage has some wildfire smoke and post-fire recovery resources, and U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development compiled this document with resources related to wildfires.

If you have a favorite that we should share, email Sarah Grace Longsworth.