Firewater s off download file2/20/2023 It is well known that wildfires can contaminate natural waters, including drinking water sources, with ash pollution and sediment (Emelko, Silins, Bladon, & Stone, 2011 Smith, Sheridan, Lane, Nyman, & Haydon, 2011). In California alone, more than 2.7 million people live in very high fire hazard severity zones (Sabalow, Reese, & Kasler, 2019), and wildfire risk increases with changing climate (Westerling & Bryant, 2008). The fatalities and destruction associated with the 2017 Tubbs Fire in Sonoma and Napa Counties in California and the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, California, underscore the risks faced in wildland–urban interfaces. The deadliest and most destructive wildfires have occurred in the wildland–urban interface, the crossroads of human-driven development and largely untouched wildlands, where dry wildland fuel brings fire directly to densely populated areas. As wildfires at the wildland–urban interface are likely to occur more frequently, greater scientific evidence is needed to guide agency responses that will better protect public health. ![]() Depressurization of the distribution network likely transported contaminated water that subsequently contaminated undamaged infrastructure. For example, certain plastics in the network may serve as a primary VOC source through in situ plastic pyrolysis. This work outlines factors that influence wildfire-induced drinking water quality threats based on the findings from these two fires and explores related scientific and policy issues. ![]() ![]() In both disasters, drinking water exceeded state and federal government-defined exposure limits for several volatile organic compound (VOC) contaminants (e.g., benzene at 40,000 µg/L and >2,217 µg/L ). The Tubbs Fire (2017) and Camp Fire (2018) are the first known wildfires where widespread drinking water chemical contamination was discovered in the water distribution network and not in the source water after the fire.
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