Wildland firefighters in many parts of Canada struggle to get compensated for serious illness

Wildland firefighters in many parts of Canada struggle to get compensated for serious illness

For decades, Dr. Tee Lamont Guidotti has dedicated his research efforts to understanding the extensive health impacts of smoke and other exposures on firefighters. He has collaborated with various jurisdictions in North America to establish guidelines aimed at providing improved support for firefighters grappling with illnesses.

While there is a wealth of established research affirming presumed connections between specific cancers and cardiovascular diseases in urban firefighting, the same level of automatic association hasn’t been observed for wildland firefighters, he noted.

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A Smoky Cloud Swirl

A Smoky Cloud Swirl

During much of the summer of 2023, fires raged through the boreal forests in northern British Columbia and Alberta, as well as in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories. These infernos prompted evacuations as they neared towns and sent billows of smoke drifting occasionally south into the United States.

In mid-September, strong winds from a passing cold front interacted with some of the fires, giving rise to an extensive swirling cloud suffused with smoke. This smoky tempest, stretching across hundreds of kilometers, is clearly visible in the image captured by the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) aboard the NOAA-20 satellite on September 16, 2023.

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