The Chemistry of Fires in the Wildland Urban Interface

Wildland fires have increased in magnitude over the past several decades, burning millions of acres of natural landscape each year. Over this same time, the number of communities that are adjacent to or intermixed among wildlands has increased. This intersection has led to an increase of wildfires in the wildland urban interface (WUI). These intense WUI fires can burn through entire communities consuming not only the natural landscape but also the structures and vehicles contained within them. While there are similarities in the combustible materials in natural vegetation and the urban environment, urban materials also contain a range of other chemicals not found in nature that likely produce smoke with a very different chemical composition from other wildfires. This presentation will examine the current state of knowledge of the emissions from WUI fires and identify some of the challenges in measuring some of the suspected chemical compounds emitted into the atmosphere. The views expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.