After the devastating Telegraph fire and subsequent flash floods in 2021, Miami and Globe residents had concerns about environmental quality and whether potential contaminants were released by the fires and transported by water and wind. Our purpose is to determine the extent of post-wildfire debris flows and erosion and whether these geohazards are presenting exposure pathways to contaminants in communities. This impactful research will help communities prepare for compound events and the public health risks posed by the confluence of climate change and resource extraction. These findings will inform disaster management and social justice efforts.
“Events as massive and landscape-wide as the Telegraph fire can alter the physical, chemical, and biogeochemical properties of the soil and surface materials,” said Mónica Ramírez-Andreotta, University of Arizona Associate Professor of Environmental Science. “Wildfires can release contaminants into the soil, and resulting dust can change air quality. It is critical to determine whether these activities are presenting exposure pathways to contaminants. This research will help communities prepare for compound events and the public health risks posed by the confluence of climate change and resource extraction”.
This two-year community science effort and study is cooperatively funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and it’s a research project likely to have impacts even beyond our local region. Goals include:
- Surveying families to identify areas that have been impacted and determine individual- and community-level vulnerabilities and resiliencies.
- Building human capacity through empowerment education and community science and train residents on how to collect environmental samples and interpret datasets.
- Characterizing contaminants released during wildfires in soil, sediment, and/or settled dust within and around residential areas over time to prepare for future events.
- Share and report data back to participants and provide intervention/prevention strategies to protect families.