Be Prepared, Stay Informed, and Recover

Take Control of Your Wildfire Preparedness

Wildfires can have a significant impact on air quality, leading to the release of harmful pollutants and posing a threat to the health and well-being of communities. To mitigate the effects of wildfires on air quality, it is crucial for communities to have a comprehensive air quality plan in place. 

1. Be Prepared: Stay ahead of the flames 

   • Head over to fire.airnow.gov to review AQI using the Fire and Smoke map

   • Establish Air Quality Monitoring - Install air quality monitoring systems throughout the community to track pollutant levels and provide early warning systems for potential hazards. Setting up TSI’s IoT enabled BlueSky™ Environmental Air Quality Monitors provide real-time air quality alerts to act fast. 

     • TSI Link™ is TSI’s cloud-based software designed for remote management providing real-time alerts to help guide informed decisions on air quality.

2. Initiate a Plan: Keep wildfire smoke at bay

   • Smoke from wildfires can last from days to weeks – Continuously monitor air quality during the wildfire event and relay real-time updates. Be sure to check with your local and state health department’s for communication direction.

   • Installing TSI AirAssure™ Continuous Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Monitors inside the rooms you spend the most time in helps detect poor air quality with real-time alerts connected to TSI Link.

3. Recover: Assessing the Atmosphere

   • Assess the air quality by conducting thorough air quality assessments in the affected areas to determine the extent of pollution and any residual risks.

   • Set up TSI DustTrak Environmental Monitors that give you early detection for response to air pollution exposure concerns. This monitor is a real-time supplement to Federal Reference Method (FRM) data collection that can be deployed remotely fast, which can assist decision makers in deploying personnel and resources.

Remember, community-wide efforts, effective communication, and collaboration with local authorities are vital to successfully mitigate the impact of wildfires on air quality.

 

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Wildfires occurring in the wildland-urban interface, where wildland vegetation and urban areas meet, present a major health hazard for local communities not only outside but also inside buildings. 

Outdoor as well as indoor workers and occupants may be seriously affected by the exposure to wildfire smoke that has been known to contribute to several health effects including eye irritation, sore throat, asthma, bronchitis and more.

Monitoring the air quality during and after a wildfire is important. You might ask yourself, as an employer, should I pay attention to wildfire smoke? Those working to contain the wildfire and those in the surrounding communities are often exposed to smoke, which contains chemicals, gases and particulate matter (PM) that can be harmful to your health. Monitoring the air during cleanup efforts is important, as toxic chemicals in the soil gets agitated and put back into the air.

Wildfires are becoming a critical recurring issue and local governments have to deal with it. California for example, has a specific regulation aimed at protecting workers, so that companies in California need to follow the Code Regulation 5141.1 to protect their employees and customers from unsafe air pollution (more info here).

Discover more on wildfire smoke issues and solutions for indoor and outdoor monitoring.

Wildfires and Indoor Air Quality	Wildfires and Outdoor Monitoring