🔥Imagine... Controlled Burns Prevent Health Burdens🔥
💡 Imagined Endstate:
Imagine a future where prescribed fire practices are coupled with robust health protection plans, reducing air pollution exposure, safeguarding vulnerable groups, and using cross-sector collaboration to build resilient, informed communities.
📚 Source:
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). Partnering to Address Health Risks During Prescribed Fires. ASTHO. Link.
💥 What’s the Big Deal:
Prescribed fires, intentionally set to reduce wildfire risk, have become a double-edged sword in an era of intensifying climate conditions. While reducing long-term wildfire threats, smoke from these fires can produce harmful air pollution that challenges public health systems, especially for individuals with asthma, COPD, cardiovascular disease, and other respiratory conditions🫁. The ASTHO report makes it clear that smoke isn’t just an environmental byproduct, it’s a predictable health risk that must be integrated into public health planning, emergency response, and communication strategies.
The report underscores the power of partnerships: public health agencies, land managers (like forestry services), emergency responders, and community organizations must co-develop early warning systems, health advisories, and protective interventions, such as air filtration programs, risk communication in multiple languages, and targeted outreach to sensitive populations📡. Best practices include using air quality monitoring data to inform real-time messaging and collaborating across jurisdictions to protect people before, during, and after smoke events.
For Pacific Island Small Island Developing States (PI-SIDS) and other geographically isolated regions, the lessons matter too. Climate change is increasing temperature extremes and altering precipitation patterns, meaning fire risk isn’t limited to continental landscapes🌋. Smoke exposure can affect air quality in island valleys and coastal communities, compounding existing respiratory health burdens and stressing health systems with limited surge capacity. At the same time, many Pacific communities depend on traditional land stewardship and small-scale burning practices; without integrated public health safeguards, these cultural practices could inadvertently harm community health.
This report reframes prescribed fire from a natural resource management issue to a public health collaboration priority, where protecting lungs, hearts, and community wellbeing is part of environmental planning, not an afterthought💪.
Key recommended actions include:
- 📣Sharing air quality forecasts with timely guidance for sensitive groups
- 🏥Co-creating communication materials with trusted community leaders
- 🔬Preparing health systems for smoke-related care needs
- 🌍Aligning emergency operations with local culture, languages, and access needs
Imagine a world where forests are managed sustainably and people breathe freely, where prescribed fire plans are co-designed with health systems, and communities are protected before smoke ever becomes a crisis. By embedding public health into environmental strategies, we can reduce both wildfire risk and respiratory harm, strengthening resilience for all, especially vulnerable and underserved populations🤝.
#PublicHealth, #PrescribedFire, #AirQuality, #ClimateHealth #SmokeRisks, #CrossSector, #Partnerships, #Resilience,#IMSPARK,
