Wildfires are a growing concern for communities, decision-makers, employers and workers across the western United States, including Washington state. Over several years, we have witnessed the public health consequences for populations directly in wildfire-prone areas, as well as for populations located many miles downwind due to poor air quality from wildfire smoke. While many have called for action to reduce the public health threat of wildfire smoke, additional research on wildfire smoke health impacts, risk communication and risk reduction and greater coordination between researcher and practitioner communities is needed to guide effective action and policy in this area. As climate change is expected to increase the area burned by wildfires and associated smoke impacts, creating and sustaining wildfire smoke-resilient communities is an urgent public health priority.

The 2018 Washington Wildfire Smoke Risk Communication Stakeholder Synthesis Symposium aimed to build on the momentum for science-based action in this area by convening practitioners and academics with expertise in wildfire smoke and health to identify research needs in this space. In co-creating a research agenda for wildfire smoke and health, we aim to guide research in this field that will be both useful to and used by the practitioners who can make decisions to reduce wildfire smoke risk and associated health risks for our communities.

The Washington Wildfire Smoke Symposium was designed to provide participants with opportunities to hear about the state of the science, engage in discussions around the real-world challenges of addressing wildfire smoke risk in communities, and to actively share their knowledge and expertise to help guide the development of a research agenda for future work.More than 75 regional stakeholders, representing more than 30 agencies, organizations, communities and tribes, attended the symposium.

The symposium began with presentations on topics such as the health risks of wildfire smoke, the connection between wildfire smoke and climate change and examples of ongoing research efforts to better characterize wildfire smoke impacts on health to inform disaster recovery and public health practice. Participants also heard from a panel of practitioners from across the state who discussed their experiences, challenges and needs related to wildfire smoke events.

Following these presentations and panel discussions, participants engaged in four 20-minute small group discussions. Each discussion was dedicated to discussing the impacts of wildfire and smoke on a different population – workers, at-risk/susceptible populations, rural communities and urban/suburban communities. The discussions focused on the following overarching questions:
1. Who is uniquely susceptible to wildfire smoke in this community? Why?
2. How can we effectively communicate risk to this population?
3. How can we reduce risk to this population?
4. How can research improve preparedness and response to future wildfire smoke events?

Trained facilitators and notetakers captured the discussion for the participants and the purposes of this report. We used qualitative content analysis methods to identify and synthesize research needs documented in the notes.

Photo credit: Washington Department of Natural Resources