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we all drive to and from our burn sites
no one wants either drive to turn deadly
and none of us want to learn a fire we
planned or conducted caused the death of
a member of the public or another
firefighter unfortunately there are
several examples where fire personnel
and the public have been injured or
killed in accidents because of smoke on
a roadway reduced visibility can occur
due to simple smoke drift or when smoke
combines with high relative humidity in
other weather conditions to form a dense
fog known as super fog super fog makes
it impossible to see more than a few
feet this 2017 map shows satellite
detected fire activity across the United
States many of these fires wildfires and
prescribed fires could have produced
smoke impacts on roads reduced
visibility from roadways smoke has
caused accidents across the country
smoke related accidents have recently
happened in New Jersey Kansas Kentucky
Oregon and Arizona the most dangerous
smoke hazard when it comes to roadway
visibility is super fog super fog can
form anywhere in the country but most of
the time it happens in the southeast
with recent occurrences in Florida
Georgia and both North and South
Carolina these are just the instances
that have been identified there is no
national database identifying smoke
related roadway accidents and deaths so
there are likely more examples this risk
exists anytime there is burning near a
road you can't see me anymore in this
smoke smoke and fire are inevitable but
smoke related accidents are not there
are planning steps and modeling tools to
help identify dangerous conditions in
advance
these drastically reduced the likelihood
that drivers will run into dangerous
smoke conditions in the next few minutes
we will introduce these procedures and
tools and tell you where to find
detailed information to apply in your
own work to prevent smoke related
roadway accidents will outline
identifying the hazard these are your
watch out situations to look for when
assessing risk planning how to plan
ahead to mitigate smoke impacts
mitigation and response how to implement
the plan to mitigate impacts and tools
briefly touching on some helpful tools
for monitoring and assessing risk and
where to get more information
identifying the hazard is a critical
step for preventing smoke related
accidents when conducting a prescribed
fire where smoke could impact a roadway
a burner should use the best available
science and Fire weather forecasts to
assess where roadways smoke impacts
could occur the potential impact should
be assessed before and after ignition
there are key watchout scenarios where
smoke is more likely to impact
visibility these are caused by landscape
features burn area fuels and weather
assessing the landscape means looking
for drainages vegetation brakes are
other areas where wind and smoke can be
funneled or more easily moved across the
landscape pay attention to burn areas
that are near roads with landscape
features that can funnel smoke
especially within three miles of the
road for smaller burns and ten miles and
beyond for large fires look for heavy
fuels or organic soils these are prone
to smoldering and generating a lot of
smoke that doesn't loft staying near the
ground weather conditions that make
smoke impacts worse or cause super vogue
include high relative humidity lower
temperatures low wind speed and surface
inversions decreased cloud cover is
often a factor for super fog it is
important to note that all weather
conditions change between daytime and
night which affects where the risks to
roads will occur these diurnal changes
combined with low intensity smoke from
unburned and/or
moldering fuels can put smoke in
unexpected locations planning when it
comes to planning the goal is to have a
means to address safety threats and
mitigate risks before smoke could
potentially impact a roadway preparation
of a roadway response plan or RRP
outlines when and how to respond to
roadways smoke situations the RRP
ensures fire managers are prepared to
act when adverse conditions are on the
way are already occurring this is
critical to avoiding negative outcomes
once the smoke arrives it's too late to
formulate a response when planning and
implementing prescribed fires our RPS
can be created and referenced as part of
contingency planning in the prescribed
fire plan either an element 17 or in the
smoke management section element 19 a
roadway response plan is a
pre-established protocol to follow if
smoke from suscribed fire impacts a road
inserted in the prescribed fire plan as
an appendix
be sure the RRP is identified as part of
the prescribed fire briefing which is
element 10 in the plan for wildfires
having the RRP in place for an area
address as possible smoke issues
identifies impact areas and lists
mitigation measures before a fire starts
also ensure local and incoming resources
are familiar with the RFP this increases
the incident commanders situational
awareness related to smoke and roadway
safety our RPS can be developed as part
of a units fire management plan or as a
reference document elements of an
effective roadway response plan include
general information on the fire and
specific information such as roles and
responsibilities of each jurisdiction
and their contact information monitoring
requirements that lists what will be
monitored where by who and how to
determine when a trigger point for
action has been met trigger points also
known as management action points or M
ApS are critical components of roadway
response planning they clearly specify
conditions that would
prompt implementation of tactical or
other mitigation actions if the ma P has
been met the plan needs to be
implemented for roadway safety ma P's
should include information from the
hazard assessment to help determine
critical thresholds for smoke visibility
impacts or conditions that can lead to
super fog formation mitigation actions
are based on the type of road and the
impact on visibility mitigation and
response once the planning is complete
you should be prepared for mitigation
and response activating the our RP is
tied to clearly outlined ma PS such as
observe smoke moving down a drainage
prior to crossing a road the criteria
and thresholds for ma PS are built into
the our RP or the prescribed fire plan
to minimize and mitigate potential risks
adaptive planning to mitigate hazards
should always be considered this
includes modifying timing and duration
of ignition to avoid impacts or use of
monitors once ma PS are met specific
responses depend on the severity of the
smoke impact responses to mitigate light
impacts could include assigning staff to
visually monitor conditions placing
signage on the roadway or placing a
decoy lighted police vehicle on the
roadside for more serious impacts the
use of pilot vehicles may be required
speed limits lowered where the road may
need to be closed if a road must be
closed identify who can authorize the
closure and how it can be completed the
minimum acceptable visibility or ma
vtable
may be a useful management action point
for this the RRP should always be
referenced prior to a burn that has the
potential to impact roadways roles and
responsibilities must be clearly
identified such as who will make
notifications when roadways smoke occurs
the planned actions are initiated
preseason coordination with key partners
is also critical for successfully
responding to roadways smoke situations
collaboration with adjacent land
managers forestry officials
local and state transportation
authorities and public safety
authorities is a key underpinning of a
roadway response plan this ensures all
parties understood their roles
jurisdictions and responsibilities as
smoker to impact an important
thoroughfare seasonally updating the RRP
is also recommended because names and
contacts are always changing continual
monitoring of weather air quality
conditions and roadway visibility is a
critical element of the RRP the RRP or
the burn plan outline how to evaluate
meteorological conditions for each
forecast period and how to accomplish
on-site observations on-site monitoring
must consider safety first and foremost
personnel assessing smoke conditions
across a roadway need to be in a safe
location if the worst outcome super fog
were to occur it is not possible to
drive safely through super fog in the
whiteout conditions it creates the safe
placement of monitors should be outlined
in advance this fits nicely in the RRP
or the monitoring section of the burn
plan tools there are several tools to
help make decisions related to smoke
hazard planning implementation and
mitigation for roadways weather
forecasts they are already required on
most wildland fires this could be a spot
weather forecast or local National
Weather Service fire weather forecast
key into warnings and watches and pay
attention to variables that could affect
smoke such as wind speed temperature
mixing height and relative humidity note
forecasted changes between the daytime
ignition and nighttime smoldering
periods determine key thresholds for
these variables for your area and burns
indices are included in some weather
forecasts or can be made available upon
request of the National Weather Service
these indices can help determine ma P
thresholds some important indices
include Turner stability ventilation
index atmospheric dispersion index and
the low visibility occurrence risk index
modelling applications such as PB
Piedmont blue sky playground and B smoke
all allow for evaluation of projected
smoke movement a trajectory model such
as high split is another valuable tool
for this purpose other guidance such as
the minimum acceptable visibility tables
for day and night help determine safe
roadway speed for various visibility
distances staying up-to-date on the
latest science smoke models and weather
forecasting products will help you
understand potential smoke impacts be
prepared for if and when smoke adversely
affects roadway visibility and be ready
to mitigate those impacts we owe it to
ourselves
fellow land and fire professionals and
the public to be vigilant in preventing
smoke related roadway accidents proper
planning protects firefighters first
responders and the public this
presentation reflects the importance of
highway safety through collaboration
with all partners involved in roadway
safety jurisdiction and smoke from a
wildfire or prescribed burn could impact
roadway visibility always identify the
potential roadway smoke hazard area be
prepared through collaborative
interaction see planning pre-identified
mitigation strategies and always monitor
weather and roadway conditions so if a
response is needed to dispose plans are
implemented and all users of the roadway
returned home safely
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you
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