Internal emails show forest service knew PFAS were in firefighters’ pants

by Americas - Featured NewsFeatured NewsPPEWildland Fire

What ProPublica reported about forest service gear and PFAS

U.S. Forest Service officials knew for years that pants used by wildland firefighters contained per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), according to internal correspondence obtained by ProPublica.

ProPublica reported that the agency was alerted as early as 2021, ahead of public acknowledgement of the issue.

In February 2024, ProPublica said it asked the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior whether federal wildland firefighting gear contained PFAS.

The organisations provided near-identical replies stating they did not have “specific measured concentration data showing that PFAS is contained in protective clothing and gear.”

ProPublica said the emails show the Forest Service chose to wait for the results of a study into whether PFAS can be absorbed through the skin before sharing information more widely.

Emails show internal questions and supplier responses

ProPublica said the emails were released last week in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed in 2022 by George Broyles, a former Forest Service employee who studied smoke exposure among firefighters.

Broyles said: “They just obfuscate.

“It’s just a continuation of the same thing: ‘We’re going to stick our heads in the sand and hope that nobody notices.’”

In April 2022, ProPublica said a senior Forest Service official named David Haston asked colleagues whether TenCate’s fabric was “still coming with PFAS in the finish?” and whether there was a duty to notify employees.

ProPublica said earlier emails show a Forest Service equipment specialist asked TenCate in April 2021 whether the Shelltite finish on its Advance fabric had any PFAS presence.

A TenCate manager replied with a document confirming one of its finishes contained a form of PFAS applied to repel hydrocarbons and gasoline, and said the company was developing a finish without the compound.

TenCate did not respond to ProPublica’s requests for comment.

ProPublica said emails from TenCate to the Forest Service described the finish as using a form of PFAS with six or fewer fluorinated carbon atoms.

Studies, health concerns and what remains unclear

ProPublica said the Forest Service decided in 2022 to wait for studies from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), including one on whether PFAS can be absorbed through skin, before making decisions.

A Forest Service physiologist wrote that a labour advocacy group should submit an official request for the information.

ProPublica reported that the Forest Service never told rank-and-file wildland firefighters that their pants might contain PFAS.

Bryan Ormond, an associate professor of textile engineering, chemistry and science at North Carolina State University, said: “From the wildland firefighting perspective, I don’t see any reason to have the PFAS treatments in their gear.

“They don’t really need the oil repellency.

“It would be a safer option to not have the PFAS treatment.”

In January 2023, a senior director at TenCate wrote: “To the best of our knowledge wearing ADVANCE with Shelltite or Supershelltite has not caused deleterious health impacts,” and the company also told the agency it was producing a PFAS-free finish for the pant fabric.

ProPublica said it is unclear whether the government began purchasing pants with the new finish or continued to purchase pants with PFAS.

In 2024, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a study mandated by Congress in 2021, and ProPublica said it found some wildland firefighting gear contained PFAS.

Heather Stapleton, an exposure scientist and professor at Duke University, said the study showed levels in certain samples “similar to what has been reported in structural firefighting gear.”

ProPublica said NIST did not respond to its questions, and the NIOSH study that Forest Service officials were waiting on remains ongoing.

NVFC Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters program returns

by Featured NewsWildland Fire

 To help departments struggling to obtain the water they need to keep their firefighters hydrated during long incidents or disasters such as wildfires Anheuser-Busch’s partnership with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) to create the Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters program has returned for another year.

The Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters program is an expansion of Anheuser-Busch’s commitment to providing clean, safe drinking water to communities impacted by natural disasters. Since the program began, 6.5 million cans of water have been distributed to more than 1,400 volunteer fire departments across nearly all 50 states.

In 2022, 1.5 million cans of emergency drinking water were delivered to 450 volunteer fire departments across 46 states to help them prepare for wildfire response.

Departments were selected through an application process and had to meet certain requirements, including being at least 50 percent volunteer and serving a population of 25,000 or less. Most water was allocated through the general application period in March, but departments actively fighting wildfires throughout the year could utilise the rapid response request to receive an emergency donation. All recipients of this year’s and previous years’ water donations can be viewed here.

‘Hydration is critical‘

NVFC chair Steve Hirsch commented: “We are proud to partner with Anheuser-Busch to make sure our wildland firefighters have the water they need to stay hydrated and functioning at their best.

“Hydration is critical to the health and safety of firefighters, and we thank Anheuser-Busch for recognising and addressing this critical need for our nation’s volunteer responders.”

The general application period for the 2023 Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters program will be open March 15-31. Find more information at www.nvfc.org/water and stay tuned to the NVFC web site, Dispatch newsletter, and Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram pages for updates on the 2023 program.

Xtreme Mask – the latest advance in respiratory protection for wildfires

by Products

Wildland firefighters are exposed to several labour risks; heat, humidity, radiation, incandescent particles, microparticles, nanoparticles, smoke, fog, aqueous dispersions, viruses, bacteria, enzymes, proteins, gases, organic and inorganic vapours, acids, amine and formaldehyde in slow combustion.

The lack of solutions to protect firefighters from these contaminant agents limits the time of fire management’s interventions and represents significant damage to the health of firefighters, with short-term consequences (causing discomfort, choking sensation and poisoning) and long-term sequel (continued exposure to CO and formaldehyde can lead to disabling occupational diseases and even cancer).

The Xtreme Mask is an effective solution to protect the face and the respiratory tract in extreme situations*.

A multipurpose device specifically designed for wildland firefighting

The Xtreme Mask adapts completely to every protection need that can occur in a wildfire. It allows the coupling of different filters according to the operative:

  • Firefighting – Reusable P3 particle filter (included). Protection against heat, humidity, radiation, incandescent particles, microparticles, nanoparticles, smoke, fog, aqueous dispersion, viruses, bacteria, enzymes, proteins.
  • Finish and interface – Reusable ABEK1P3 multigas filter (optional). Protection against heat, humidity, radiation, incandescent particles, microparticles, nanoparticles, smoke, fog, aqueous dispersion, viruses, bacteria, enzymes, proteins, gases and organic and inorganic vapours, acids, amine and formaldehyde in slow combustion.

Respiratory comfort with a high level of protection

Set consisting of a half mask with two exhalation valves (so that carbon dioxide escapes faster, increasing respiratory comfort), an interchangeable filter and a textile mask, certified according to EN 15614: 2007, which offers high protection against radiation.

The excellent fit and sealing of the half mask to the face and its direct connection to the filter multiply its degree of filtration, offering protection of up to 99.92%.

Comfortable and lightweight
Low nasal profile mask, adjustable on Caucasian, Asian, African-American and American faces. Compatible with most glasses available on the market.

Perfect integration with the rest of the protection equipment
Quick adjustment without removing the helmet, thanks to its double velcro® system.

All the components that make up this product have been manufactured following the requirements of the European Regulation.

Textile
EN ISO 11612:2015 – Protective clothing. Clothing to protect against heat and flame. Minimum performance requirements
EN ISO 13688:2013 – Protective clothing. General requirements.
EN 15614:2007 -Protective clothing for firefighters. Laboratory testing
methods and requirements for forestry clothing.

Half mask
EN 140:19998 – Respiratory protection equipment. Half mask.

P3 R Filter
EN 143:2004 + A1:2006 – Respiratory protection equipment. Filters against
particles. Requirements, testing, marking.

ABEK1P3 Filter
EN 14387:2004+A1:2008 – Respiratory protective devices. Gas filters and combined filters. Requirements, testing, marking

* Standards and regulations regarding labour risk prevention must be observed, as well as the suitability of their use and possible limitations.

For more information, visit: www.vallfirest.com

COVID-19 adds disruptions as California prepares for intense fire season

by ActiveAmericas - Events

California and states in the US south-west are bracing for an intense fire season complicated by the coronavirus pandemic. With 2020 on track to be one of the hottest and driest years on record, the National Interagency Fire Centre is warning of a higher potential for fires across much of America’s west and south-west.

A historically dry winter – not a single drop of rain fell on San Francisco and Sacramento in February – followed by a hot spring has dried out fire-fueling vegetation, priming the region for an unusually early start to the fire season.

California saw fires popping up early in springtime, with bigger, faster wildfires picking up in recent weeks amid hot and dry conditions that could persist for months. Hundreds of firefighters have been deployed to multiple blazes across Arizona, with the fifth-largest fire in the state’s history burning northeast of Phoenix. A number of smaller fires in California over the past two weeks also prompted evacuations.

“Unfortunately we’re already seeing a bit of a preview of what’s to come,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that some sort of historical, catastrophic blaze is assured,” Swain said. “It just means that the risk is a lot higher this year than it would normally be, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we get lucky and there are relatively few ignitions.”

The response to these blazes has been understandably complicated due to the coronavirus pandemic. Officials are asking the public to leave their homes to seek safety – the opposite of what public health guidelines have dictated in the past four months.

To mitigate the risk of coronavirus spreading, the Red Cross has arranged for more, smaller evacuation shelters, with staff on site to check temperatures and screen for Covid-19. But eradicating the risk entirely is impossible, since the virus spreads most efficiently in crowded, indoor spaces, and can be stealthily passed by people who show no symptoms.

The coronavirus also threatens to sideline wildland firefighters. They’re exposed to large amounts of smoke that could aggravate their lungs and cause complications if they were to contract the disease. And they normally station at crowded camps for days near major blazes, where they may have few opportunities to wash their hands.

California’s fire agency CalFire is going to recommend that crews space out sleeping areas, and arrange for firefighters to eat and receive instructions in smaller groups, said Robert Foxworthy, a spokesman for CalFire.

“We have a lot of ideas about what we can do to mitigate risks,” he said. “But this is still kind of uncharted territory. Everybody is learning as we go.”