Health Hazards of Smoke Spring 2001
Fires of 1999
Late summer wildfires on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, combined with stagnant air, led to numerous local and regional air quality problems. These problems resulted in the first state of emergency declared in a California county because of air pollution, and the first known evacuation based on hazardous air pollution levels. Hourly average levels for particulate smaller than 10 µm (PM10) at the Hoopa monitoring station ranged up to 1,000 µg/m3, and area stations recorded several days when the 24-hour average PM10 levels were higher than 400 µg/m3. On October 22, 1999, the county emergency services office prepared the following notice:
"The Humboldt County Sheriff's Department Office of Emergency Services is strongly recommending evacuation of the Hoopa, Willow Creek, and all smoke-affected areas due to serious health risks caused by hazardous air quality."
The conditions were reminiscent of those recorded in 1987, the year that led to the NWCG study of the effects of smoke exposure on wildland firefighters. For information on that project, contact MTDC for the publication Health Hazards of Smoke: Recommendations of the April 1997 Consensus Conference, 9751-2836-MTDC.
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