Communicating the Health Risks of Wildland Fire Smoke
November 19, 2025 | Kerry Wyss, Ali Aslam
Wildfires continue to be a growing risk across large swathes of North America, one of the largest effects of these fires being severe smoke. Smoke from wildland fires — wildfire and prescribed burns — can pose serious health risks to communities, particularly for sensitive or vulnerable populations such as children, older adults, and those with respiratory or cardiovascular conditions. Wildfire smoke can spread rapidly over long distances, so timely and accurate risk communication is essential during wildfire events to help communities understand the dangers of smoke exposure and take protective actions.
ASTHO hosted a wildland fire focus group in January 2025 to talk through lessons learned by state and territorial health and environmental agencies in managing wildland fire response. The group identified needs to improve community health in wildland fire response through health risk communication, disseminating information, and developing programs to support public health action (i.e., exposure reduction). Learn more about these takeaways and actionable strategies for wildland fire response in the full report.