Wildfires

The Healthy Lungs for Heroes Act was introduced by Democratic California Senator Adam Schiff and Republican Utah Senator John Curtis. If passed, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other federal officials would have one year to develop a plan to make “commercially available appropriate respiratory personal protective equipment for wildland firefighters and supporting staff in settings in which smoke exposure surpasses covered permissible exposure limits.”

Data analyzed by the advocacy group Grassroots Wildland Firefighters shows that prescribed fires and other hazardous fuel reduction efforts have fallen by nearly 40% across the West this year.

In January, the world watched in horror as fires marched through multiple Los Angeles neighborhoods, leaving behind blocks of smoldering foundations. A recent report tried to calculate how much it would cost to rebuild the structures lost to better withstand the next blaze.

Wildfires have grown substantially in size in recent decades, but they’re also burning much more intensely, with high severity areas growing much faster than fires overall. New research projects additional significant jumps in the scale of wildfires that kill most trees unless major management measures - like prescribed fire - are carried out.

The U.S. Senate version of the Fix our Forests Act (FOFA) is advancing with strong bipartisan support. If signed, it would bring big changes to the country’s approach to wildfires.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Every summer, thousands of wildland firefighters endure months of heavy exposure to smoke and other toxins without respiratory protection. As a troubling picture of the health implications emerges, policies are beginning to change.

Homeowners in Idaho are facing rising insurance costs and harder-to-maintain coverage. Now newly released data is shedding light on the scope of the problem.

Earlier this year, Idaho officials asked homeowners insurance providers in the state for data on their operations, including information on premiums and policy cancellations. Newly released findings paint a troubling picture for the Gem State, and a top official says other Western states should undertake similar efforts.

The American West has seen the number of structures lost in wildfires more than triple in recent decades. But new research shows that home hardening measures can significantly increase a home’s chances of survivability during a wildfire.