Recovery after fires requires robust public health resources

The Spokane Complex fires have devastated homes, displaced families and harmed the landscape we share. The impact of this disaster will cause more than immediate destruction. It also illuminates pre-existing public health fault lines.

These fires have brought three clearly into view: trust in credible expertise to inform decision-making; the profound disparities that determine who is most exposed and least able to recover; and the need to build more equitable systems to protect health and safety before the next disaster arrives.

As residents re-enter their homes and their routines, many in affected areas will encounter homes that appear intact. However, homes can appear safe while still harboring residue, which requires careful cleaning and professional assessment. Homeowners cannot reliably detect these risks by sight or smell, making it essential to listen to public health and fire-safety experts. This includes waiting until a home is cleared for re-entry, avoiding smoke and airborne ash, using proper protection during cleanup, and not drinking potentially affected well water until it has been assessed and tested.

But guidance protects people only when they trust its source and have the resources to follow it. Institutions must earn that trust through transparent, consistent communication, humility and sustained relationships with the communities they serve.

Homeowners and community members must understand some of the dangers the homes that survived the fires might harbor.

When heat damages plumbing or a water systems lose pressure, volatile organic compounds, including benzene, can enter the system. Following California’s 2017 Tubbs fire for example, benzene was detected at thousands of times the federal drinking-water limit in parts of the affected system. Though boiling water can be effective at killing microorganisms; it does not remove chemicals and can release some contaminants into indoor air. Wells and plumbing that may have been affected by heat, fire or loss of pressure ideally are professionally assessed and, when appropriate, tested.

Ash from a burned home can contain heavy metals, asbestos from older building materials and other toxic substances. It can settle in yards, gardens and ventilation systems.

And these environmental and health challenges are to recur.

Brian Henning, director of the Gonzaga Institute for Climate, Water, and Environment states, “Though wildfire has been part of the ecology of the West since time immemorial, climate change is leading to shorter, warmer winters with less snow and longer, drier summers with less rain are leading to larger, more intense fires.”

The fires may be ruthless and indiscriminate in their path, but their health and economic consequences will not be distributed equally. People with asthma or heart disease, pregnant people, older adults and young children may be especially susceptible to smoke, ash and environmental contamination. When these vulnerabilities overlap with limited income, unstable housing, inadequate insurance and reduced access to care, the health impacts can be multiplied.

Health and safety recommendations that assume financial availability, transportation, flexible employment, internet access and alternative living arrangements may not be equitable guidance if support systems are not adequately in place. Information alone cannot protect people who lack the means to act on it.

Our response to these ongoing challenges must occur at three levels: Individually, we should follow credible re-entry guidance and check on neighbors who may need reliable information, transportation, protective equipment or somewhere safe to stay.

For local institutions, good communication is critical. Our institutions (including public health agencies, health systems, schools and community organizations) must coordinate clear messages, acknowledge uncertainty, and mobilize trusted local voices.

Finally, Spokane and Washington should ensure access to environmental testing, private-well assessment, temporary housing and renter protections.

Trust is part of our public health infrastructure. Experts and institutions must listen to residents, and residents must believe the experts. Leaders need to make it possible for every household to act on sound guidance. We are fortunate to have a new public health department and team at Gonzaga and stand ready to work with our academic, public and nonprofit colleagues on these issues. As such, we are launching the Spokane Wildfire Academic Consortium in partnership with our local universities to coordinate messaging and ensure any research efforts are for the good of Spokane and its residents.

The Spokane Complex fires have revealed more than the dangers of smoke, ash and contaminated water. They have shown how expertise, public trust and material resources work together to protect health. If we address all three, Spokane can emerge more prepared when the next emergency arrives.

This piece originally ran in the Spokesman-Review on Friday, Aug. 14.