RIM FIRE SMOKE Jim Roehl Air Pollution Specialist Tuolumne County APCD 11.5.13

Tuolumne County, CA •  Rural County, population = 50,530 •  Just over 1,000,000 acres in size •  77% of County is Public Lands (USFS, NPS, BLM, others) •  Stanislaus National Forest •  Approximately 1/3 of Yosemite National Park •  Significant industries = Timber, Tourism, and Cattle •  Cities/Smoke Sensitive Areas – Sonora, Groveland,

Pinecrest, Tuolumne

Ambient Air Quality Status •  Federal •  Attainment for the 8 hour ozone standard •  Attainment/Unclassified for the PM 2.5 & PM 10

standards

State* •  Non-attainment for 8 hour ozone standard •  Unclassified for PM 2.5 & PM 10 standards •  * State designation recognizes “overwhelming transport” of air pollution.

Rim Fire

Steep Rugged Inaccessible Terrain

Extreme fire behavior

3rd Largest Fire In CA History •  Fire Start Date: August 17, 2013 •  Acres Burned: 257,000+ (402 square miles) •  Containment: October 25, 2013 •  Structures Threatened: 4,500 •  Firefighter’s Deployed (at Peak): 5,115 •  Gallons of Water Dropped: 2+ million gallons •  Gallons of Retardant Dropped: 2.3+ gallons •  Cost: $128 million •  Residences Destroyed: 11 •  Commercial Properties Destroyed: 3 •  Outbuildings Destroyed: 98 •  Firefighter Injuries: 10 •  Fire Cause: Human Caused/Under Investigation

257,000 + acres

Wildfire with Many Priorities •  Communities •  Homes •  Businesses •  Large tracts of private timber land •  Cattle grazing areas •  San Francisco’s water supply (Hetch Hetchy) •  Infrastructure (roads, utilities, hydroelectric power plants,…) •  National Landmarks (Merced and Tuolumne Giant Sequoia

Groves in Yosemite)

•  Smoke was a priority but a low priority.

APCD’s Role •  Collect information and data on smoke and

expected fire behavior to inform:

•  Decision makers •  County Incident Management Team •  Local Leaders •  Elected Officials •  Schools •  Sporting Events

•  The public •  AQ Advisories •  Websites •  Emails / phone calls

Air Quality Indicators

Tuolumne City Typical Summer/fall day

September 5, 2013 1 hr. ave.= 264 µg/m3 (Unhealthy)

Jamestown Typical summer/fall day

September 9, 2013 Visibility less than ½ mile “Hazardous”

Moccasin Typical summer/fall day

September 9, 2013 Visibility less than 1/3 mile (Hazardous)

Tuolumne County EBAM Locations

Columbia Drew Meadows (ICP) Groveland Pinecrest Tuolumne City (ICP) Tuolumne Meadows Jamestown

0

Columbia Pinecrest DrewMdw 1 ICP Tuol City DrewMdw2 ICP Tuol Mdws 1 Groveland Tuol Mdws 2 Jamestown

9/24/13

9/23/13

9/22/13

9/21/13

9/20/13

9/19/13

9/18/13

9/17/13

9/16/13

9/15/13

9/14/13

9/13/13

9/12/13

9/11/13

9/10/13

9/9/13

1000

9/8/13

9/7/13

9/6/13

9/5/13

9/4/13

9/3/13

9/2/13

9/1/13

8/31/13

8/30/13

8/29/13

8/28/13

8/27/13

8/26/13

8/25/13

8/24/13

8/23/13

8/22/13

8/21/13

8/20/13

Concentration PM 2.5 (µg/m3)

Tuolumne County PM2.5 3 hr. ave. Daily Max

1200

Tuolumne County PM2.5 Daily 3 hr. ave. max (Preliminary Data)

800

600

400

200

Tuolumne County 24 hr. Ave. PM2.5 400

Concentration PM 2.5 (ug/m3)

350

Tuolumne County 24-hour Average PM 2.5

300

(Preliminary Data)

250 200 150 100 50 0

Tuol Mdws 1 Columbia

Groveland DrewMdw 1 ICP

Tuol City DrewMdw2 ICP

Pinecrest Jamestown

Tuolumne County PM2.5 Summary Drew Meadow (ICP) 3 hr high was 1061µg/m3 (8/31/13) 13 days of Unhealthy, Very Unhealthy or Hazardous AQ Fire Camp was inside the fire perimeter Tuolumne City 3 hr high was 860µg/m3 (8/27/13) 8 days of Unhealthy, Very Unhealthy or Hazardous AQ Limited impact to public as town was evacuated (ICP was not) Pinecrest 3 hr high was 746µg/m3 (8/24/13) 15 days of Unhealthy, Very Unhealthy or Hazardous AQ Recreation area—most visitors stayed away. Groveland 3 hr high was 814µg/m3 (8/27/13) 12 days of Unhealthy, Very Unhealthy or Hazardous AQ Evacuations in effect and road closed which limited access

Regional Smoke Impacts

Regional EBAM Locations Mariposa County Greeley Hill El Portal LaGrange Boot Jack Yos. Valley Visitor Center Yos. Valley Campgrounds Calaveras Bear Valley Alpine County Markleeville El Dorado County S.Lake Tahoe Nevada Carson City Minden Sparks Reno

Regional PM2.5 3 hr. ave. Daily Max 600

Calaveras, Mariposa, Alpine and El Dorado Counties PM 2.5 Daily 3 hr. ave. Max (Preliminary Data)

400

300

200

Bear Vly

San Andreas

El Portal

Greely Hill

La Grange

Mariposa

Yos. Vly. VC

Yos. Vly. CGs

Markleeville

S. Lk. Tahoe

9/16/13

9/15/13

9/14/13

9/13/13

9/12/13

9/11/13

9/10/13

9/9/13

9/8/13

9/7/13

9/6/13

9/5/13

9/4/13

9/3/13

9/2/13

9/1/13

8/31/13

8/30/13

8/29/13

8/28/13

8/27/13

8/26/13

8/25/13

8/24/13

8/23/13

8/22/13

0

8/21/13

100

8/20/13

Concentration PM 2.5 (µg/m3)

500

Regional 24 hr. ave. PM 2.5 Calaveras, Mariposa , Alpine and El Dorado County 24 hr PM2.5 (Preliminary Data)

Very Unhealthy

200

150

Unhealthy 100

50

Bear Vly

San Andreas

BootJack El

El Portal

Greely Hill

Mariposa

Yos. Vly. VC

Yos. Vly. CGs

Markleeville

S. Lk. Tahoe

9/16/13

9/15/13

9/14/13

9/13/13

9/12/13

9/11/13

9/10/13

9/9/13

9/8/13

9/7/13

9/6/13

9/5/13

9/4/13

9/3/13

9/2/13

9/1/13

8/31/13

8/30/13

8/29/13

8/28/13

8/27/13

8/26/13

8/25/13

8/24/13

8/23/13

8/22/13

. Moderate Good 8/21/13

0

U.S.G.

8/20/13

Concentration PM 2.5 (ug/m3)

250

La Grange

Regional AQ Summary •  Bear Valley (Calaveras County) •  10 days with the 24 hr. ave. in the Unhealthy/Very Unhealthy Range •  Markleeville (Alpine County) •  7 days with 24 hr. ave. Unhealthy or Very Unhealthy

•  Greeley Hill (Mariposa County) •  3 hr. impacts in the Unhealthy range over 5 days.

•  Yosemite Valley •  Light smoke impacts for most of the fire •  Except for Labor Day Weekend. (3 hr. ave. max at 520µg/m3--Very

Unhealthy) •  San Joaquin Valley •  Limited impacts (LaGrange monitor--24 hr ave. max 31µg/m3) •  SJ Valley monitors may have experienced other impacts.

Nevada

0

Carson Minden Reno Sparks

9/19/13

9/18/13

9/17/13

9/16/13

9/15/13

9/14/13

9/13/13

9/12/13

140

9/11/13

160

9/10/13

9/9/13

9/8/13

9/7/13

9/6/13

9/5/13

9/4/13

9/3/13

9/2/13

9/1/13

8/31/13

8/30/13

8/29/13

8/28/13

8/27/13

8/26/13

8/25/13

8/24/13

8/23/13

8/22/13

8/21/13

8/20/13

Concentration PM 2.5 (µg/ m3)

Nevada PM2.5 3 hr. ave. Daily Max 180

Nevada PM 2.5 Daily High 3hr. Ave. (Preliminary Data)

120

100

80

60

40

20

24 hour PM2.5 Impacts in Nevada 120

Nevada 24 hr PM2.5 Concentration PM 2.5 (ug/m3)

(Preliminary Data)

100 Unhealthy 80

60

U.S.G.

40

20

Moderate Good

0

Carson

Minden

Reno

Sparks

It Could Have Been Worse •  Smoke •  Predominant SW winds generally pushed smoke into less populated areas •  Typical summer periods of poor dispersion was short lived and infrequent during the fire •  Most days in populated areas had a few hours of “clean out”. •  Limited structures lost (11 homes, +-100 structures) •  No deaths •  Limited firefighter injuries •  Data on respiratory visits to the local hospital and prompt

care was collected but is not currently available.

APCD Lessons Learned •  Direct and continuous interaction with the local Public

Health Officer •  Monitoring support from ARB, USFS, NPS and others was crucial. •  Air Resource Advisor •  Critical and consistent link between fire management team and

APCD’s

•  Meteorology assistance from ARB, SJVACPD •  AQ advisory on National Weather Service website

Changes in Public Perceptions and/or Policy?? •  How will public react to smoke from future fires? •  How will the public respond to future Prescribed

fires? And future wildfires? •  Will the outcomes of the Rim Fire impact the

management of our public lands?