Firefighters often pack into camps by the hundreds as they fight large wildfires. Even in a best-case scenario, that could mean nearly two dozen get the coronavirus, according to a document AP received. In the worst case? Over 1,000 infections.
FILE - IN this Aug. 18, 2017, file photo, exhaustion reads on the face of a firefighter from Noorvik, Alaska, while he and his team watch for spot fires that threaten to jump the line on the Lolo Peak fire, in Missoula, Mont. A federal risk assessment says wildland firefighters could see widespread outbreaks of COVID-19 at large U.S. fire camps this summer, and the problem is likely to compound the longer fire season lasts. The draft risk assessment created by the U.S.
The U.S. Forest Service’s draft risk assessment predicts that even in a best-case scenario — with social distancing followed and plenty of tests and protective equipment available — nearly two dozen firefighters could be infected with COVID-19 at a camp with hundreds of people who come in to combat a fire that burns for months.Forest Service officials have declined to answer questions about the document other than saying it’s outdated and being redone.
One of the authors of the risk assessment said Tuesday that the infection rates won’t change. But while the draft originally said the death rate among infected firefighters could reach as high as 6%, that is being revised sharply downward, to less than 2%, to reflect newer data, said Jude Bayham, an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Colorado State University.
Some fire managers also are told to take temperatures with their own touchless thermometers if possible. The guidelines say everyone should wear masks and other protective equipment when around those outside their immediate crew. Good cleaning and sanitation is recommended, as is isolating firefighters and potentially entire crews if COVID-19 is detected.
Social distancing was difficult, and firefighters found it unrealistic to meet sanitation standards for truck radios, hand tools and other gear used in the initial attack on the Idaho wildfire, Juvan said. Social distancing guidelines call for more vehicles to transport crews, but that led to congestion on the narrow roads leading to the fire. The guidelines could raise one of the greatest risks to wildland firefighters — traffic wrecks, Juvan said.
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