Cecelia Heidle
Research Mentor: Caroline Beckman
Mentor Department: SEAS, SNRE
Author(s): Cecelia Heidle, Meg Czerwinkski, Caroline Beckman
Session: Session 3 (11:00 AM – 11:50 AM)
Presentation Type: Poster 15
Abstract
Wildfires are increasing in number and severity in the American West. With the increase of fires, more people are exposed to wildfire smoke, which is a serious hazard for human health. It is not yet well understood how individuals make decisions to protect themselves from wildfire smoke during extreme smoke events. In this study, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 service providers, ranging from school teachers to governmental officials in Valley County, Idaho. We interviewed about their smoke experiences and how they were impacted, focusing on the wildfires that took place during 2024 and how they compared to previous years. The interviews consisted of questions regarding how smoke is perceived as a risk, responses during smoke events, how service providers think and plan for smoke events, what the individual defines as extreme smoke, and thoughts about the future of wildfire smoke events. Interviews were transcribed verbatim using Rev, then were analyzed through Rapid Qualitative Analysis (RQA) to create a community profile for Valley County. Across the interviews, we found that most people exhibited little overall concern on the smoke’s impact on their health, and took little personal protective actions against the smoke. The findings from our interviews and community profile can be used to educate the public of wildfire smoke and its effects, as well as provide a deeper understanding of a quickly growing issue as climate change continues to make wildfires and wildfire smoke worse.
