Wildland firefighters' respiratory health to be studied by UBC
After more than a decade of combating smoky wild‐ fires in British Columbia, Kyler Gaulin says being on the front line has taken a toll on his body.
"It's a job we love ... but I notice, at the end of the sea‐ son, my lungs are definitely not nearly as strong as at the start," the Pemberton, B.C., wildfire fighter said.
"We're working in a lot of very fine dust, a lot of smoke, a lot of ash."
In recent years devastat‐ ing fires have burned in all corners of the province as thousands of firefighters in‐ hale wildfire smoke with little protection. But new research aims to shed light on how those conditions are impact‐ ing firefighters' respiratory health.
The B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS), in collaboration with the University of British Co‐ lumbia, is embarking on what they're considering "ground‐ breaking" research, looking at the respiratory health of wildland firefighters.
"We don't know a lot about how their vessels are reacting or not reacting to wildfire smoke," said Madden Brewster, postdoctoral re‐ search fellow at UBC's Okanagan campus.
Researchers will track fire‐ fighters' cardiorespiratory systems over the next two years collecting data before, during and after the fire sea‐ son - something Brewster says "hasn't really been done before."
Many use nothing except bandanas to cover their noses and mouths, according to occupational hygienist Drew Lichty.
He says wildfire smoke contains a hazardous mix‐ ture of gases, pollutants and pieces of debris that are in‐ visible to the naked eye.
"[Some] refer to it as a toxic soup of chemicals."
Such microscopic particles - which can be narrower than a strand of human hair - can find their way into the lungs and bloodstream, Lichty says.
WATCH | Researchers monitoring firefighter health through fire season:
In June 2022, the Interna‐ tional Agency for Research on Cancer classified firefight‐ ing as a known human car‐ cinogen, stating firefighters have a 14 per cent higher risk of dying from cancer than the general public. In Cana‐ da, more than 85 per cent of firefighter fatality claims are attributed to cancer.
Even amid mounting evi‐ dence that breathing smoke can cause deadly diseases, Lichty says right now there's little to no research into the effects of wildfire smoke on the long-term health of wild‐ land firefighters.
As the 2024 fire season begins, researchers are tak‐ ing firefighters' blood sam‐ ples and carrying out lung function tests to determine baseline measurements.
As the season progresses, Pemberton's wildland fire‐ fighters will be sent out into the fray equipped with air quality monitoring devices like gas detectors, which will measure carbon monoxide and air sampling pumps to detect particulates.
Gaulin, who is one of the research participants, says an in-depth look into the health of wildland firefighters is long overdue.
"These studies are super important obviously ... unfor‐ tunately, it's taken a couple busy years to get recognition of how serious the wildfires are becoming," he said.
Respiratory masks
Alongside UBC's research, BCWS is implementing respi‐ ratory protection that in‐ cludes multiple models of respirators capable of filter‐ ing harmful particulates and gases.
Emily Bennington, a sec‐ ond-year initial attack fire‐ fighter, said the masks were "constrictive".
WATCH | Why wearing a mask while fighting wild‐ fires can be tough:
"I see the benefit of it, but I think practically, I would find it hard to work with."
BCWS senior officer Mike McCulley says finding the perfect mask for a wildland firefighter is tricky.
"If you picture a firefighter fighting a structure fire in a house, they have the luxury of being able to [carry] large masks, oxygen tanks. That's not the reality for wildland firefighters," he said, noting that they often work in diffi‐ cult terrain.
"We are trying to make sure we're using the best [equipment]."
He says BCWS is procur‐ ing enough masks to outfit more than 1,600 firefighters it has employed this year, but they aren't mandatory.
WATCH | B.C. wildfire service testing respirators for firefighters:
The federal government says Canada is at risk of an‐ other devastating wildfire season, after an unusually warm winter. More than 70 fires are already burning across the country, primarily in northern B.C., northern Al‐ berta and the Northwest Ter‐ ritories, officials said.
In the meantime, wildland firefighters Gaulin and Ben‐
nington hope the ongoing re‐ search will soon provide them with necessary insights to confront the unseen en‐ emy threatening their heath and livelihood.
"I'm definitely excited to see how my health changes over a season, and my coworkers as well," Benning‐ ton said. "That would be very useful information to have."