Heavy smoke obscures the sun during the 2024 Park Fire‚ which burned several hundred thousand acres in Butte and Tehama counties. Photo courtesy of Cal Fire.
Everyone in Northern California knows about the destructive impact of catastrophic wildfires – on our forests and our communities.
More subtle but no less deadly is the hidden impact to our lungs.
Wildfire smoke isn’t just a nuisance that obscures a mountain view or cancels a soccer game. It is a major health hazard – especially for children and the elderly‚ and especially for those in areas where fires leave valleys socked in with smoke for weeks or even months at a time.
While these effects are well-documented in extra emergency-room visits and other public-health data‚ this information is not well integrated into the state’s wildfire response planning.
To remedy that‚ I have co-authored‚ with Sen. Shannon Grove‚ Senate Bill 899. This bill would require the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force to formally assess the health costs and impacts of high-severity wildfire smoke‚ to build a model to understand the health benefits of the task force’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan‚ and to shape future plans to reduce the health impacts of smoke.
California will never be free from the hazards of fire – both direct and indirect – but we can and must do a better job of managing them and protecting the public‚ especially our must vulnerable neighbors. SB 899 is an important step in that work.
– Senator Megan Dahle
