Mask ban for forest fire crews lifted

U.S. agency reverses a decades-long rule amid concerns about smoke and cancer.

- BY SUSANNE RUST

NOAH BERGER Associated Press U.S. FOREST SERVICE firefighter Alan Gudino, right, shields his face while battling the Madre fire in July.

The U.S. Forest Service has announced it is reversing a ban on federal firefighters wearing masks, and will give crews protective N95s as they battle increasingly intense fires across the nation.

For decades, the agency argued their use made firefighters vulnerable to heat exhaustion.

Other wildfire-prone nations, such as Canada, Greece and Australia, provide their firefighters with masks to prevent lung damage and smoke-related diseases, including cancer and organ failure — and have not seen increases in heatstroke among the crews.

The policy will have little bearing on local and regional urban firefighters, such as those in Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.

"We are actually encouraged to wear them," said Jonathan Torres, engineer and spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

"There are chemicals that are unknown to us that are part of our work," as buildings and infrastructure burn, he said. Masks provide some protection against harmful smoke particles and chemicals released when plastics, upholstery and synthetic building materials burn.

This week, the forest agency announced it has stockpiled roughly 80,000 N95 masks and will include them as part of the equipment it provides for large fires.