The Chemistry of Fires at the Wildland-Urban Interface (2022) / Chapter Skim
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5 Water and Soil Contamination
5 Water and Soil Contamination
Pages 99-112
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From page 99... ...
Additionally, reports of data from WUI fires in California document levels of metals measured in ash samples collected in impacted neighborhoods, with elevated levels of antimony and other species (TetraTech Inc., 2019)
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The focus of this chapter is to provide a description of some of the concerns regarding water and soil contamination after WUI fires. These two media environments are discussed separately.
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From page 101... ...
For example, the use of firefighting chemicals can result in mobilization that ultimately impacts source waters, although the use of these firefighting chemicals is restricted near surface waters (Nolen et al., 2022)
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In the context of WUI fires, limited data exist on the potential mobilization of nutrients from the combustion of urban materials; measurements are needed in this area. However, concerns related to eutrophication in reservoirs and surface waters are not an immediate concern in the aftermath of a fire; nitrate, for example, has a maximum contaminant level of 10 ppm, and it is unclear whether such levels can be reached in the immediate aftermath of a fire, even near the incident area.
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Chapter 3 describes in general terms the complexity that is expected from combustion during WUI fires. These compounds may form in the gas phase and then partition to water or into ashes.
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104 THE CHEMISTRY OF FIRES AT THE WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE TABLE 5-2 Identifications of Compound Classes Found in Ash Leachates and Water Samples from Wildland Fires Compound Chemical Structure Quinoline monocarboxylic acids Quinoline dicarboxylic acids Naphthoic acid Naphthalene dicarboxylic acids Naphthalene tricarboxylic acids Benzofuran monocarboxylates Benzofuran dicarboxylates Benzofuran tricarboxylates SOURCE: Adapted from Ferrer et al.
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One of these reports characterized ash samples collected after the 2018 Camp Fire. It provides evidence of the potential for WUI fires to contaminate surface waters (TetraTech Inc., 2019)
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Research need: Research is needed to further characterize the potential for chemical contamination stemming from ash mobilization into both soil and water after WUI fires. Although numerous studies characterize gas-phase emissions from the combustion of both urban materials and biomass (as summarized in Chapter 3)
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As with water contamination, published data on soil contamination directly related to WUI fires are scarce. The literature on wildland fires and soil contamination includes examples of contamination due to different organic and inorganic compounds, such as PAHs and metals.
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Lessons Learned from Other Types of Disasters Although significant data gaps exist regarding WUI fires and water contamination, reports do exist on contamination in water and soil from runoff of other types of large-scale fire disasters (see Table 5-3)
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2004. Cerro Grande Fire Impacts to Water Quality and Stream Flow near Los Alamos National Laboratory: Results of Four Years of Monitoring.
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2014. "Water Quality Concerns Due to Forest Fires: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH)
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2020. "Wildfire Caused Widespread Drinking Water Distribution Network Contamination." AWWA Water Science 2(4)
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2022. "Impact of the 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfires on Atmospheric Deposition of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Trace Elements to Surrounding Ombrotrophic Bogs." Environment International 158:106910.
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