Wildfires
ALWAYS CALL 911 if you are in immediate danger and need emergency help.
en español
- Prepare for or respond to a wildfire - the dangers when wildfire is predicted or advancing.
- Incident information - general incident or fire information and links to geographic areas, from the National Incident Center.
- Fires and your health.
- What is particle pollution?
- Use the Smoke Sense app and contribute to health information.
- Recover after a wildfire - protect your family, business, community.
Current fires
- Check the air quality where you live
- What is particle pollution? Learn how dust, soot, and smoke from wildfires can affect your health.
Note - maps below indicate air quality regions, not actual burn areas.
California air quality
Northwest air quality
Prepare for or respond to a wildfire
Air quality health information:
- Sign up to receive air quality email notices for your ZIP code. Smoke from wildfires, even from wildfires tens or hundreds of miles away, can significantly affect your health, especially if you have existing lung or breathing problems.
- Health care professionals: Take this course about the health effects associated with wildfire smoke exposure and steps for patients to take before or during a wildfire.
- Public health officials and others can use the Smoke Ready Toolbox to help educate the public about the risks of smoke exposure and actions people can take to protect their health.
- Read about the science behind wildfire smoke toxicity.
- En español: Caja de herramientas "Smoke Ready" para educar al público acerca de los riesgos de la exposición al humo y las acciones que la gente tiene para proteger su salud.
- Real-time smoke monitoring data, from US Forest Service
- Read more: How Smoke from Fires Can Affect Your Health
- Controlling asthmas triggers
- Are you living somewhere that is impacted by wildfire smoke? EPA has developed a two-sided infographic card with information on how to reduce exposure to wildfire smoke, how to select the correct respirator mask, and how to properly wear the mask to protect your health. You can order free copies of the infographic to distribute to your community.
Indoor Air Quality:
- Smoke from wildfires can enter your home and make the indoor air unhealthy to breathe, too. Learn more about wildfire smoke and your indoor qir quality.
- Communities affected by wildfire smoke may set up or identify cleaner air spaces and cleaner air shelters. Such spaces should be to be adapted to accommodate safety measures related to COVID-19. Learn more about COVID-19, Wildfires, and Indoor Air Quality.
Planning for disaster debris:
Damage from a wildfire depends on the size, extent, and other factors. Damage debris can include destroyed structures, hazardous waste, green waste, or personal property. More information on disaster debris.
Chemical or fertilizer storage:
Properly designed or modified storage facilities help protect workers' health and safety, and minimize the risk of contamination to land or water.
Hazardous Waste Management Facilities and Units
Pesticides: Containers, Containment, Storage and Disposal of Pesticides
Recover after a wildfire.
ALERT: Generator exhaust is toxic. Always put generators outside well away from doors, windows, and vents. Never use a generator inside homes, garages, crawlspaces, sheds, or similar areas. Carbon monoxide (CO) is deadly, can build up quickly, and linger for hours. More information.
Air quality and health information:
After a wildfire, be aware that smoldering materials in the building may produce many pollutants. Many adverse health conditions can be caused by inhaling or ingesting even small amounts of these pollutants. Small children, the elderly, or people with preexisting respiratory conditions can be especially vulnerable to some of these pollutants.
- More information about pollutants produced by burning materials
- Asthma: wildfires and air quality
- Health and environmental effects of particle pollution (smoke, soot)
What to do with disaster debris:
Disasters can generate tons of debris, including building rubble, soil and sediments, green waste (e.g., trees and shrubs), personal property, ash, and charred wood. How a community manages disaster debris depends on the type and amount of debris and the waste management options available.
Burying or burning is no longer acceptable, except when permission or a waiver has been granted, because of the side effects of smoke and fire from burning, and potential water and soil contamination from burial. Typical methods of recycling and solid waste disposal in sanitary landfills often cannot be applied to disaster debris because of the large volume of waste and reluctance to overburden existing disposal capacity. More information on handling debris.
- EPA is working with local, state and federal partners on the response to the Northern California fires, to identify locations of household hazardous waste (HHW) and other hazardous materials and containers, to ensure safe conditions and remove materials that are unstable, corrosive or toxic. EPA has also launched a site to maps fire-affected areas and progress. Read more.
TRY THE ONLINE MAPPER: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/eafc1655aefc43c1b4f7c25cd7d36bee
- Phone hotline for Oregon wildfire-affected property owners about Step I haz waste removal. Oregon property owners ready to begin rebuilding and recovering from this summer’s devastating wildfires now have a dedicated phone number (541-225-5549) to ask questions about EPA’s removal of household hazardous waste at their property or provide additional details about their property that will help speed the EPA removal work. The hotline will offer service in both English and Spanish. Read more.
- EPA stands-up second wildfire recovery response staging area at Salem. Will collect household hazardous materials from burned properties to protect residents and to ensure these materials are disposed of properly and safely. Read more.
Returning to homes or businesses after a disaster.
More about Wildfires
Higher temperatures relate to drought and increased risk of fire.