File attachment:
| Title | Bushfires extending into the rural/urban interface - Final report for the operational readiness of rural firefighters (air toxins) project |
| Publication Type | Report |
| Year of Publication | 2014 |
| Authors | Reisen, F, Borgas, M |
| Series Title | Final report for the operational readiness of rural firefighters (air toxins) project |
| Date Published | 02/2014 |
| Abstract | Bushfires extending into the rural urban interface (RUI) will release a variety of pollutants into the atmosphere, some of which could potentially harm fire and emergency service workers and residents in the vicinity of the fire. At present, extensive research on exposures to air toxics has been conducted at bushfires and prescribed burns within Australia. Exposure studies have also focused on toxicity of fire effluents in the context of structural fires. However the findings cannot be easily extrapolated to the rural-urban context. Exposures at fires in the RUI differ due to the presence of a more complex mixture of fuels, more complex fire behaviour and smoke plume dispersion and different firefighting tactics including minimal respiratory protection and working under extreme weather conditions. These aspects add complexity to predicting firefighters’ exposures to toxic chemicals and make it difficult to extrapolate from existing research findings on exposures at bushfires, prescribed burns and structural fires. Research has also been conducted on emissions from a range of burning materials under well-controlled conditions. While these studies provide important information on types of air pollutants released during combustion of materials, the data are presented as emission yields and are not necessarily representative of personal exposures. Currently, fire and land management agencies do not have scientific evidence to quantify the exposure to air toxics faced by workers at the RUI. There is a need to better understand the environment of the interface to assess exposure risks to firefighters, emergency service workers and residents during and after fires. The objective of the research project is to improve our understanding of potentially toxic emissions and their exposure concentrations at the RUI by creating a scenario-based exposure assessment that will define exposure risks to firefighters. The emphasis is on inhalation exposures resulting from burning structures at the RUI at varying distances from the emission source and the smoke plume. |
