Citation

Wise EK. Int. J. Wildland Fire 2008; 17(2): 214-223.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, International Association of Wildland Fire, Fire Research Institute, Publisher CSIRO Publishing)

DOI

10.1071/WF06111

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Fire managers must consider air-quality impacts when planning prescribed burns or devising wildfire containment strategies. Particulate matter (PM) is the primary pollutant of concern: it is the major component of smoke and has known detrimental influences on human health and the environment. The present study examines wildfire–weather–PM interactions and the resulting impacts on urban air quality and visibility in Tucson, Arizona, USA. Few violations of air-quality standards were recorded during large wildfire events in the study area. When examined at a higher-resolution time scale, the impacts of the fires on urban air quality are apparent. The present study also found that extreme PM values were linked to humid and windy conditions, wildfires appear to have a greater impact on PM10 concentrations than PM2.5 concentrations, and PM10 is more closely tied to visibility degradation during fire events than PM2.5. Comparison of actual PM concentrations to those predicted by a regulatory model indicates that the model overestimates standard exceedances, with resulting implications for prescribed burn planning.