Wildfire Today

Boycott research on firefighters that is not Open Access

Bill GabbertDecember 12, 2011August 25, 2019Uncategorizedfirefighter health, open access, research5 Comments

Open Access logo

We all hate paying for something and then not receiving what we paid for. That is what is happening now to taxpayers who pay for government-funded research and then have no access to the findings.

We have ranted about this before, and documented another example a few days ago when we discovered that it will cost us $41 to obtain a copy of the findings from research conducted by the University of Georgia. Associate Professor Luke Naeher and others found that lung function decreases for firefighters who work on prescribed fires for multiple days and are exposed to smoke. Further, it showed that respiratory functions slowly declined over a 10-week season.

This is not the only research that has explored the effects of smoke on wildland firefighters, but it may significantly add to the limited body of knowledge we have on the topic. We won’t know, however, unless we pay a second time in order to see their conclusions.

Researchers at some organizations receive pay raises and promotions based partially on the “publish or perish” meme. A system that requires researchers to publish in journals that are not completely open to the public, is antiquated and has no place in 2011 when a paper can be published in seconds on the internet at little or no cost.

Some of the research that has been conducted on firefighters requires a great deal of cooperation from the firefighters, including for example, ingesting core temperature monitors, carrying a drinking water system that monitors every drink they take, and even lubricating and then inserting a rectal thermistor probe attached to wires.

The Boycott

There is no reason for firefighters to go to extreme lengths to help researchers advance the researcher’s career paths unless the firefighters can receive some benefits from the project. So, we are jumping on the idea proposed by Rileymon in a comment on the University of Georgia article:

Maybe it’s time to suggest that firefighter/research subjects boycott new research studies unless the findings are put into the Public Domain?

Here is what we are proposing:

Firefighters, administrators, and land managers should not cooperate with researchers unless they can be assured that findings from the research will be available to the public at no charge immediately following the publication of the findings, or very shortly thereafter.
Researchers should conform to the principles of Open Access.
Scientists who assist in the peer review process for conferences or journals should pledge to only do so only if the accepted publications are made available to the public at no charge via the internet.

More information:

Study: firefighters’ lung function decreases after exposure to smoke. December 9, 2011
Taxpayer funded research should be available to taxpayers. October 21, 2011
The myth of drinking water. October 27, 2011
Cancer risk and smoke exposure among wildland firefighters. August 23, 2010
Public access to taxpayer-funded wildfire research. August 2, 2009
New study: climate influences AND drying of fuels are most significant. July 2, 2009
Alliance for Taxpayer Access
U.S. Government’s Office of Science and Technology Policy — Request for Information: Public Access to Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Publications Resulting From Federally Funded Research

Study: firefighters’ lung function decreases after exposure to smoke

Bill GabbertDecember 9, 2011August 25, 2019Uncategorizedfirefighter health, open access, Photo by Bill G, research, smoke & health8 Comments

A new study from the University of Georgia found that lung function decreases for firefighters who work on prescribed fires for multiple days and are exposed to smoke. Further, it showed that respiratory functions slowly declined over a 10-week season.

Unfortunately, even though the study was probably funded by taxpayers, you will have to pay a second time see the study’s results. It will cost you $41 to purchase the article that contains the detailed findings uncovered during the research. The University of Georgia decided to pay a private journal to publish the article, rather than placing it on the

Smoke, fire-N-of-Cascade-Rd-2006 — Firefighter working in smoke, fire near Hot Springs, SD in 2006. Photo by Bill Gabbert

University’s web site for free. We have written previously about taxpayers not being able to access taxpayer-funded research. Why does the government continue to fund research, if the product of the research is not made available? A call to Luke Naeher, the senior author of the study, was not immediately returned.

Here is a summary of the report, which thankfully, is provided by the University of Georgia at no cost.

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December 5, 2011

After monitoring firefighters working at prescribed burns in the southeastern United States, University of Georgia researchers found that lung function decreased with successive days of exposure to smoke and other particulate matter.

“What we found suggested a decline in lung function across work seasons,” said Olorunfemi Adetona, a postdoctoral research associate and lead author of the study published recently in the journal Inhalation Toxicology.

Luke Naeher, senior author and associate professor in the UGA College of Public Health, explained that the study was designed to investigate whether the 26 firefighters experienced a decrease in lung function working at prescribed burns compared with days they spent away from the fires. Previously, researchers had looked only at changes in lung function of wildland firefighters on days with exposure to smoke.

“Over a 10-week season, these workers’ respiratory functions slowly declined,” Naeher said, adding that there is need to investigate the degree to which these declines returned to their baseline after the burn season. Although results of the study show that lung function at the start of two burn seasons in a limited number of nine firefighters in 2003 and 2004 did not vary significantly, more definitive answers relating to the issue of longer term effect of exposure on lung function would require a different study design.

In recent years, the U.S. Forest Service has sought to better understand and improve its occupational exposure limits for firefighters across the country. Most studies have concentrated on burns in Western states where exposure to and composition of wood-smoke particulate matter may vary to some degree when compared with fires in the Southeast, including South Carolina, where the study was done.

Naeher said the study provides some preliminary information regarding the health effects of fine particulate matter exposure that is intermediate between two exposure extremes. On the low extreme lies ambient air levels typical for developed countries, while inhalation of particles by a smoker represents the opposite extreme. Much research in the field has focused on health effects at both extremes. However, the study of exposure at intermediate levels, like that experienced by wildland firefighters, and women and children exposed to indoor air pollution from cook stoves in developing countries is limited. Naeher’s research focuses on these two different populations, and he explains that the study of the body’s response tothese intermediate exposures may now be more urgent. For example, Naeher said, an initiative led by the United Nations Foundation aims to put clean-burning cooking stoves in 100 million homes in developing countries by 2020.

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UPDATE: We heard from Luke Naeher on December 14, 2011. He told us that the research was funded by the University of Georgia, and the Department of Energy-Savannah River Operations Office through the U.S. Forest Service. He sent us copies of two research papers that were published in journals owned by Informa, a company with their head office in Switzerland: Personal PM_2.5 Exposure Among Wildland Firefighers Working at Prescribed Forest Burns in Southeastern United States, and Lung function changes in wildland firefighters working at prescribed burns. Mr. Naeher said he cannot change the system in place for reporting science in the peer-review literature, but he will always share his published work freely with anybody who asks

Report released on Pagami Creek fire canoe overturn incident

Bill GabbertDecember 8, 2011August 25, 2019UncategorizedMinnesota, Pagami1 Comment

File photo of canoe and float plane — File photo of canoe and floatplane. USFS photo

On October 16, 2011 during the Pagami Creek Fire on the Superior National Forest in northeast Minnesota an incident occurred that resulted in a motorized canoe being swamped in the middle of a large lake. As a result, three firefighters were totally immersed in cold water and exposed to hypothermic conditions for approximately 25 minutes until they were rescued by floatplane.

It occurred when a Division Supervisor and a Task Force leader were being ferried out to meet a Beaver (deHavilland) floatplane that was going to extract them.

Here is an excerpt from the facilitated learning analysis about the incident:
Continue reading “Report released on Pagami Creek fire canoe overturn incident”

Extreme Makeover to rebuild firefighter’s home that burned in Bastrop fire

Bill GabbertDecember 8, 2011December 8, 2011Uncategorized

Mizzy Zdroj was one of 20 firefighters who lost their homes while they were fighting the wildfires near Bastrop, Texas in September. The family did not have insurance and this weekend planned to move into a an 8 by 20-foot portable shed. Thanks to fellow firefighters who made some calls, the local television station ran a story on their plight and it got the attention of the producers of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Starting today over 100 workers plus many local volunteers will begin rebuilding the home for the member of the Heart of the Pines Volunteer Fire Department, her husband, and three children. Next week after the family returns from an all expenses paid vacation in New York City, they will move into a $250,000, 2,500-square-foot home to replace the 724-square-foot house that burned .

Wildfire news, December 6, 2011

Bill GabbertDecember 6, 2011December 6, 2011Uncategorized

Off-duty USFS firefighters and citizens suppress fire

Frazier Park fire. Photo by Peter Bogdanoff

Two off-duty U.S. Forest Service firefighters and some other nearby citizens took it upon themselves to knock down a wildfire burning in Frazier Park, California (map) on Monday. The firefighters used a chain saw and a shovel to construct fireline on the perimeter of the fire while one of the citizens used a garden hose.

Here is an excerpt from an article in the Mountain Enterprise submitted by Peter Bogdanoff:

…We were at Chatterpillar across Mt. Pinos Way and saw the flames shooting up above the roofs. We first thought it might be Judy’s Mini Storage or Lions Daycare burning, but it turned out to be the hillside below Lions Daycare and the Western Motel toward Cuddy Creek.

It took about 10 minutes for the fire department to respond. Meanwhile, we used a garden hose to slow it down. Marie Bogdanoff helped with the garden hose. A couple of off-duty U.S. Forest Setrvice fire fighters living nearby worked on the fire with a chain saw and shovels before the fire trucks arrived. Eventually, USFS and Kern County personnel arrived to put the 100-foot-long fire out.

Hard times in Arkansas and Texas: Merry Christmas — and goodbye

Both Arkansas and Texas are experiencing major budget cuts to their land management agencies. The Arkansas Forestry Commission is laying off 36 workers in January to help make up for a $4 million budget shortfall due to declining timber sales. The agency which oversees fire suppression and conservation in the state forests told the workers on Friday that the layoff would be effective on January 13.

The Texas State Parks and Wildlife agency is asking for donations to help make up for a $4.6 million deficit caused by wildfires, drought, and declining visitation numbers. The state is asking for people to make a tax-deductible donation at their web site, or to check off a block when renewing their vehicle registration to give $5 to the agency.

San Diego County builds new innovative web site for emergency information

The County of San Diego recently unveiled a new web site designed to provide information about ongoing emergencies. It is unique in three areas:

It was designed at no cost by Microsoft.
Microsoft used the opportunity to showcase an innovative method to handle extremely heavy loads during emergencies when large numbers of people attempt to access the site. “Cloud technology” makes it possible to handle a high volume of visits without paying for storage space during non-emergency times.
It takes advantage of social media by displaying feeds from several Twitter accounts maintained by county and state emergency services agencies.

Before you put out the fire, frame the problem

Bill GabbertDecember 6, 2011April 11, 2017UncategorizedRobert Baird3 Comments

When firefighters arrive at a fire, they face a problem — the fire. In most cases they are directed to suppress it, but unless the fire is very small the best tactics and strategy may not be immediately obvious. You could “cowboy up”, aggressively and directly attacking the perimeter of the fire, but that is not always the best choice. A seasoned firefighter and leader may choose to step back and look at alternatives.

Marc Rounsaville, the former Deputy Director of Fire and Aviation for the U.S. Forest Service in Washington, and a former Area Commander, recently posted an article on his web site about framing the problem BEFORE you attempt to solve it. Here is an excerpt, reproduced here with Chief Rounsaville’s permission:

…My incident management experience frequently had me in the role of listening for the problem frame and asking the questions to ensure we weren’t missing some critical aspect of the problem. Emergency responders are trained to respond, to have a bias for action. It is easy to jump in and start doing before you figure out what to do. Many wildland fire units have a default setting of going “direct” on a fire. This means get as close as you can and keep the fire as small as possible by working right on the edge. The problem frame is simply, “Keep the fire as small as possible.” This doesn’t leave many options. Now, think about opening the frame a bit to, “Keep the fire as small as possible while maintaining the highest degree of safety.” If actually applied this requires some level of analysis for risk and safety. A different range of alternatives begin to emerge.

Opening the frame a little wider to, “Provide for a high level of safety and keep the fire as small as possible using the best natural control features.” Again, an even wider range of possible solutions emerge as well as the requirement to think a little more deeply about the situation. This thinking or reflecting will most likely bring more ideas to the surface. This new ideas may not have ever emerged had the responders focused strictly on physically doing something.

Robert Baird will be the new of Deputy Director of Fire and Aviation Management for the U.S. Forest Service.

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