In recent months, concern about the health risks wildland firefighters face has been growing. Now a major conference exploring that issue has started in Colorado.
Over the summer, the New York Times published a series of stories documenting what it called an “occupational health crisis” due to the heavy smoke that wildland firefighters breathe without respiratory protection. During a U.S. House oversight hearing last month, members pressed the U.S. Forest Service chief on the issue. Certain masks are now available for voluntary use, and federal officials are studying further changes.
“A lot of moving parts,” said Luke Montrose, who runs a lab at Colorado State University that focuses heavily on smoke and firefighter health. He’s the organizer of the Rocky Mountain Wildfire Smoke Symposium, which started Monday in Loveland, Colo. Its theme this year: Working to Protect Those Who Work in Smoke…