Experts explain wildfire causes, and how they can worsen flooding, air quality
Wildfires can worsen air quality many miles away and can leave ground more susceptible to flooding. (Photo Courtesy Pexels / Frank Cone).
While several areas of the U.S. have been inundated with heavy flooding from summer storms, wildfire season is in full swing across much of the country. California just experienced its largest wildfire so far this year, the Madre Fire in San Luis Obispo County, well before peak dryness and high temperatures.
Experts from Virginia Tech can speak to the cycles that lead to wildfire season, how to monitor and deal with resulting poor air quality, and why prior wildfires have exacerbated some of the recent flooding.
What’s driving wildfires
According to Brian Lattimer, head of the Virginia Tech Department of Mechanical Engineering, whose team has worked on firefighting solutions, the Madre Fire “signals the result of some of the drier, warmer weather that is beginning in the West. This dries out vegetation growth, creating easily ignitable fuel.” Lattimer says that the combination of low rainfall and warm temperature projections makes the Pacific Northwest a particularly vulnerable area over the next month.
How wildfires impact air quality, even far away
Even if you don’t live in a particularly fire-prone area, you may feel the impact of smoke from wildfires hundreds or thousands of miles away. Gabriel Isaacman-VanWertz, who studies the impact of organic compounds in the air, says the public should keep an eye on EPA's AirNow map to look at the Air Quality Index (AQI) and the Fire and Smoke map.
As the AQI gets closer to red or purple, Isaacman-VanWertz says it is a good idea to spend more time indoors. “Smoke can contain different types of chemicals than other forms of pollution, but that is still something actively being studied. My general advice for the average person is to follow the guidance of the AQI for smoke, like they might for any other air quality event.”
How fires can make flooding worse
Wildfires can also be precursors to flooding and mudslides, as we’ve seen in the recent flooding in New Mexico, which ripped through areas previously devastated by fires, known as burn scars.
“Any time you have a wildfire that exhibits high severity and exposes bare mineral soil in a watershed, you are likely to see erosion and flooding,” says Adam Coates, an expert in wildland fire ecology and management. “There’s simply very little material left to impede the flow of water downslope.” He says severe wildfires can create a hydrophobic crust. “That further elevates the likelihood of erosion and flooding because that crust prohibits infiltration of precipitation.”
About Lattimer
Brian Lattimer is the head of the Virginia Tech Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Nicholas and Rebecca Des Champs Chair. His research focuses on fire dynamics, wildland fires, material-fire interaction, and polymer discovery.
About Isaacman-VanWertz
Gabriel Isaacman-VanWertz is an associate professor in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. His research focuses on organic compounds in the air — how they are emitted, how they transform, and their health and ecosystem impacts. He is particularly interested in developing new ways to measure and analyze hazardous air pollutants.
About Coates
An associate professor of Wildland Fire Ecology and Management in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation for Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment, Adam Coates researches the impacts of wildland fire on ecosystem processes and properties. That focus intersects with topics such as restoration ecology, fuels, fire behavior, silviculture, soils, wildlife habitat, and water quality.
Schedule an interview
To schedule an interview, contact Noah Frank in the media relations office at nafrank@vt.edu or by phone at 805-453-2556.
