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Willdfire smoke exposure linked to increased risk of contracting COVID-19

Author BillPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 4 Comments on Willdfire smoke exposure linked to increased risk of contracting COVID-19

A new study finds a 17.7 percent rise in COVID-19 cases after a prolonged 2020 wildfire smoke event in Reno, Nev.

Lava Fire
Lava Fire, pyrocumulus at 1:42 p.m. June 28, 2021.

By Kelsey Fitzgerald

Wildfire smoke may greatly increase susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to new research from the Center for Genomic Medicine at the Desert Research Institute (DRI), Washoe County Health District (WCHD), and Renown Health (Renown) in Reno, Nevada.

In a study published earlier this week in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, the DRI-led research team set out to examine whether smoke from 2020 wildfires in the Western U.S. was associated with an increase in SARS-CoV-2 infections in Reno.

To explore this, the study team used models to analyze the relationship between fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) from wildfire smoke and SARS-CoV-2 test positivity rate data from Renown Health, a large, integrated healthcare network serving Nevada, Lake Tahoe, and northeast California. According to their results, PM 2.5 from wildfire smoke was responsible for a 17.7 percent increase in the number of COVID-19 cases that occurred during a period of prolonged smoke that took place between Aug. 16 and Oct. 10, 2020.

smoke forecast
During the time of the study, a map showed the forecast for the distribution of near-surface wildfire smoke at 6 p.m. MDT August 23, 2020. RealEarth.

“Our results showed a substantial increase in the COVID-19 positivity rate in Reno during a time when we were affected by heavy wildfire smoke from California wildfires,” said Daniel Kiser, M.S., co-lead author of the study and assistant research scientist of data science at DRI. “This is important to be aware of as we are already confronting heavy wildfire smoke from the Beckwourth Complex fire and with COVID-19 cases again rising in Nevada and other parts of the Western U.S.”

Reno, located in Washoe County (population 450,000) of northern Nevada, was exposed to higher concentrations of PM2.5 for longer periods of time in 2020 than other nearby metropolitan areas, including San Francisco. Reno experienced 43 days of elevated PM2.5 during the study period, as opposed to 26 days in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“We had a unique situation here in Reno last year where we were exposed to wildfire smoke more often than many other areas, including the Bay Area,” said Gai Elhanan, M.D., co-lead author of the study and associate research scientist of computer science at DRI. “We are located in an intermountain valley that restricts the dispersion of pollutants and possibly increases the magnitude of exposure, which makes it even more important for us to understand smoke impacts on human health.”

Kiser’s and Elhanan’s new research builds upon past work of studies in San Francisco and Orange County by controlling for additional variables such as the general prevalence of the virus, air temperature, and the number of tests administered, in a location that was heavily impacted by wildfire smoke.

“We believe that our study greatly strengthens the evidence that wildfire smoke can enhance the spread of SARS-CoV-2,” said Elhanan. “We would love public health officials across the U.S. to be a lot more aware of this because there are things we can do in terms of public preparedness in the community to allow people to escape smoke during wildfire events.”

More information:

Additional study authors include William Metcalf (DRI), Brendan Schnieder (WCHD), and Joseph Grzymski, a corresponding author (DRI/Renown). This research was funded by Renown Health and the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development Coronavirus Relief Fund.

The full text of the study, “SARS-CoV-2 test positivity rate in Reno, Nevada: association with PM2.5 during the 2020 wildfire smoke events in the western United States,” is available from the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-021-00366-w

 

British Columbia bracing for very high temperatures as fires prompt evacuations

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags , , 1 Comment on British Columbia bracing for very high temperatures as fires prompt evacuations

As of Wednesday night BC had 248 active fires, 36 of which were designated “fires of note”

Active wildfires and evacuation zones in Southern British Columbia
Active wildfires and evacuation areas in Southern British Columbia, 7 a.m. PDT July 30, 2021. The red lines represent wildfire perimeters. BC Wildfire Service.

British Columbia is having another year with higher than average wildfire activity due to hot, dry weather in recent weeks.

British Columbia Public Weather Alerts, 7 a.m. PDT July 30, 2021
BC Public Weather Alerts, 7 a.m. PDT July 30, 2021.

On Thursday in Lytton, BC the temperature reached 47.9 degrees Celsius (118F), the highest temperature ever recorded in Canada.

Hot weather is expected to continue through Saturday with many areas in the southern part of the province under Weather Alerts for heat where temperatures could reach or exceed 37 degrees Celsius (100F) while the relative humidity will be in the teens. The wind will be moderate in most areas, 5 to 7 mph with gusts to 8 or 10 mph.

Forrest Tower, a spokesman with the wildfire service, said, “We may get a bit of a break from the wind as this ridge kind of has a stable air mass over these fires, but the added challenge is that even if it may not be strong winds, any wind will have a significant influence on these fires.”

June’s extreme heat affected the fatality rate in BC. From the CBC July 29, 2021:

B.C.’s chief coroner has confirmed the majority of people who died suddenly during the week of June’s record-breaking heat wave lost their lives as a direct result of the extreme temperatures.

Lisa Lapointe confirmed in an interview Thursday morning that 570 of the 815 sudden deaths recorded over that time period — 70 per cent — have now been deemed “heat related.”

“[If not] for the extreme heat, they would not have died at that time,” Lapointe said during an interview with CBC’s The Early Edition.

According to Lapointe, 79 per cent of those who died were 65 or older.

As of Wednesday night BC had 248 active fires, 36 of which were designated “fires of note” that were highly visible or posed a potential threat to public safety. The 3,693 personnel assigned to the fires includes 316 from out of the province and Australia.

Currently there are 62 evacuation orders in effect for 3,443 properties.

For weeks the fires in BC have been producing dense smoke that generally spreads to the east and occasionally into the United States.

Here is the smoke forecast for 9 p.m. MDT July 31, 2021.

Smoke forecast
Smoke forecast for 9 p.m. MDT July 31, 2021. Firesmoke.ca.

Satellite photo, wildfires in the Northwest, July 29, 2021

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags , , , , , 4 Comments on Satellite photo, wildfires in the Northwest, July 29, 2021
Satellite photo smoke wildfire
Satellite photo 7:10 p.m. PDT July 29, 2021

The wildfires in Southeast British Columbia, Northern Washington, Northern Idaho, and Northwest Montana were putting up a lot of smoke Thursday at 7:10 p.m. PDT. NASA GOES 17.

President announces requirement for federal employees to be vaccinated, or tested regularly

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 94 Comments on President announces requirement for federal employees to be vaccinated, or tested regularly

New COVID rule also applies to federal contractors

Firefighters taking a break
Firefighters take a break on the Robertson Draw Fire on the Custer Gallatin National Forest in Montana, June 22, 2021. InciWeb photo.

Thursday afternoon President Biden announced that federal workers will need to be vaccinated for COVID or they will have to wear masks and be tested on a regular basis.

“Every federal government employee will be asked to attest to their vaccination status,” the President said in a live broadcast from the White House. “Anyone who does not attest or is not vaccinated will be required to mask no matter where they work, test one or two times a week to see if they’ve acquired COVID, socially distance, and generally will not be allowed to travel for work. Likewise, today, I’m directing my administration to take steps to apply similar standards to all federal [onsite] contractors. If you want to do business with the federal government, get your workers vaccinated.”

A fact sheet issued by the White House July 29, 2021 provided few more details:

Strengthening Safety Protocols for Federal Employees and Federal Contractors. Today, the President will announce that to help protect workers and their communities, every federal government employee and onsite contractor will be asked to attest to their vaccination status. Anyone who does not attest to being fully vaccinated will be required to wear a mask on the job no matter their geographic location, physically distance from all other employees and visitors, comply with a weekly or twice weekly screening testing requirement, and be subject to restrictions on official travel.

These rules should not only apply to federal workers and onsite contractors. President Biden is directing his team to take steps to apply similar standards to all federal contractors. The Administration will encourage employers across the private sector to follow this strong model.

We have asked the federal land management agencies how this requirement will be implemented among firefighters. When we hear back, we will update this article.

The pandemic is still occurring, but primarily among the unvaccinated. An Associated Press analysis of available government data from May showed that 98.9 percent of hospitalized COVID patients had not received the vaccine.

Already this year Oregonlive.com is reporting that nine people working on Oregon’s Bootleg Fire have tested positive. Since this type of data is very difficult to obtain, it is possible that nine people on one fire is just the tip of the iceberg. Today’s Situation Report shows 66 large un-contained fires staffed by 21,544 individuals.

In 2020 76 people assigned to Colorado’s Cameron Peak Fire tested positive for COVID. Two were hospitalized and 273 had to be quarantined while the fire was being suppressed.

U.S. Forest Service spokesperson Stanton Florea confirmed that 643 FS wildland fire personnel had tested positive for coronavirus as of January 19, 2021.

Of those, 569 had recovered at that time, Mr. Florea said, but 74 had not yet fully recovered or returned to work as of January 19. There have been no reported fatalities in the FS tied to coronavirus, he said.

NBC News reported August 29, 2020 that one BLM employee in Alaska died August 13 shortly after testing positive while on the job. Another was in critical condition at that time.

At least 222 Federal fire personnel had tested positive according to NBC:

  • U.S. Forest Service: 122
  • Bureau of Indian Affairs: 54
  • Bureau of Land Management: 45
  • Fish and Wildlife Service: 1
  • National Park Service: (would not disclose the number to NBC News)

At the end of the 2020 fire season the Department of the Interior refused to disclose how many fire personnel in their four land management agencies tested positive.

Some people may think they are in good shape and probably won’t get COVID, and if they do it will not be severe. But that is a very selfish attitude. They could get it, be non-symptomatic and spread it to their significant other, spouse, children, grandparents, work group, or anyone else they come in contact with.

There is a lot we do not know about the disease, especially the long term effects being reported by “long-haulers” or “long COVID”.  The CDC reports that “a recent study found that about 3 in 10 COVID-19 patients reported experiencing persistent symptoms for as long as 9 months after illness”.

A study in the UK found that people who had COVID performed worse on intelligence tests. From Psypost.org:

“For their study, [lead researcher Adam] Hampshire and his team analyzed data from 81,337 participants who completed the intelligence test between January and December 2020. Of the entire sample, 12,689 individuals reported that they had experienced COVID-19, with varying degrees of respiratory severity.

“After controlling for factors such as age, sex, handedness, first language, education level, and other variables, the researchers found that those who had contracted COVID-19 tended to underperform on the intelligence test compared to those who had not contracted the virus. The greatest deficits were observed on tasks requiring reasoning, planning and problem solving, which is in line “with reports of long-COVID, where ‘brain fog,’ trouble concentrating, and difficulty finding the correct words are common,” the researchers said.

“Previous research has also found that a large proportion of COVID-19 survivors are affected by neuropsychiatric and cognitive complications.

“ ‘We need to be careful as it looks like the virus could be affecting our cognition. We do not fully understand how, why, or for how long, but we urgently need to find out. In the meantime, don’t take unnecessary risks and do get vaccinated,’ Hampshire told PsyPost.”

For more information, read the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center’s article, “To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate — A Personal Decision on the Fireline — Are You Willing to Roll the Dice?” It was written by Dr. Jennifer Symonds, the Fire and Aviation Management Medical Officer for the U.S. Forest Service.

The bottom line is, if you are hesitant to get vaccinated, don’t get your scientific advice from Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, or a TV show trying to generate ratings. Check out the advice given by scientists.

Billions in losses, thousands could die if wildfire response unchanged: report

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,
Cub Creek 2 Fire
Cascade Type 2 IA crew on Cub Creek 2 Fire in Northern Washington, July 25, 2021. InciWeb.

A team of scientists from British Columbia, the United States, and Spain say Western Canada must address the threats posed by highly destructive wildfires or face deadly consequences.

The scientists, including Mathieu Bourbonnais, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, predict devastating wildfires such as those currently burning in B.C. and elsewhere in the country will be commonplace by 2050.

The group has released a paper predicting billions of dollars in suppression and indirect fire costs as well as hundreds or thousands of premature deaths due to exposure to wildfire smoke if climate change and fire causes are not resolved.

The warning comes as statistics from the B.C. government show 1,251 wildfires have charred more than 4,500 square kilometres of bush since the start of the fire season on April 1.

Three dozen of those blazes are considered extremely threatening or highly visible and include the 395 square kilometre fire southwest of 100 Mile House that remains out of control and prompted an evacuation alert for another 161 properties on Wednesday.

Environment Canada has issued heat warnings or special weather statements for inland sections of the north and central coasts and much of southern B.C., as the BC Wildfire Service warns the combination of high temperatures and low relative humidity will make wildfires even more intense.

Bourbonnais, who spent years working as a wildland firefighter, says in a statement that a new long-term plan is needed because it’s simplistic and insufficient to blame the wildfire crisis on the forest sector or wildland fire management agencies.

“Wildfires affect so many facets of our society and environment including health, the economy, biodiversity, ecosystem function and more,” he says in the release.

“Wildland fire management must engage additional proponents, including Indigenous Peoples, industry and communities, to help people learn to live with the realities of landscapes and ecological systems that include wildfires but, over time, work to reduce their more catastrophic effects.”

The economic and social costs of wildfire response are unsustainable, the scientists argue.

—

First published by The Canadian Press

Two fires in Okanogan County Washington have burned a total of 87,000 acres

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags , , 2 Comments on Two fires in Okanogan County Washington have burned a total of 87,000 acres

Cub Creek 2 Fire and Cedar Creek Fire

Cedar Creek Fire, July 18, 2021
Cedar Creek Fire, July 18, 2021. InciWeb.

Two fires in north-central Washington that started the week of July 11 have burned a total of 87,000 acres in Okanogan County. Both are being managed by Type 1 Incident Management Teams. A map of evacuations in effect is at the County’s website. Highway 20 is likely to be closed through the end of July. (Current state highway conditions.) Both blazes are in steep, difficult to access terrain with heavy dead and down fuel loading.

A Smoke Blog has been established to provide information about current and predicted smoke and air quality conditions in Washington.

A heat advisory is in effect for Winthrop Thursday through Saturday for high temperatures near 100 each day. The wind at the city on Thursday and Friday will be generally from the south-southeast at 6 to 8 mph with humidity in the mid-teens. It will be cooler at the fires since Winthrop is at 1,800′ and the terrain on the fires ranges from 2,000′ to over 5,000′. Sunday will bring lower temperatures, humidity around 50 percent, and a 30 percent chance of thundershowers.

Cedar Creek Fire
This lightning-caused fire on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest south of Highway 20, three miles west of Winthrop was mapped July 28 at 35,685 acres. Wednesday it was very active near the head of Little Wolf Creek moving southwest through heavy fuels. It burned past the end of the dozer line that was being built to connect to Thompson Ridge.

The fire is backing down into Little Boulder Creek, Little Falls Creek, and Silver Star Creek.

Map of the Cedar Creek & Cub Creek 2 Fires
Map of the Cedar Creek & Cub Creek 2 Fires. The white lines were the perimeters on July 28. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 2:28 a.m. PDT July 29, 2021.

Cub Creek 2 Fire
This fire 5 miles north of Winthrop has burned 52,832 acres on lands protected by Okanogan County Fire District 6, Washington Department of Natural Resources, and the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. The cause is under investigation.

On Wednesday firefighters worked to tie in multiple hand lines, dozer lines, and existing road systems on the western and eastern flanks.  The smoke reduced the potential for significant fire growth, but the hot and dry temperatures allow it to keep burning in the lower drainages. Crews completed a strategic burning operation along Deer Creek and Sweet Grass Butte. With a significant warming trend beginning Thursday, the top priority for crews is to reduce any heat and fuels on the southeastern flank of the fire, especially near Ramsey  and Tripod Creeks.