Mask a New Tool in Fighting Wildfires : Safety: State researchers say inexpensive respirators filter most toxic elements from smoke. They have been tested in Northern California blazes.

For decades, firefighters have battled wildfires with nothing but a red bandanna to shield them from lung-scarring, poisonous smoke. But the bandanna is about to be replaced by a new form of respirator that provides safe, lightweight protection.

Using Northern California’s firestorms as their laboratory for the past two summers, state researchers have concluded that an inexpensive respirator can filter some of the most toxic ingredients of wildfire smoke. The goal now is to equip the state’s 5,000 forestry department firefighters, as well as city and county crews in brush-fire areas, with the masks by the summer of 1995.

“It’s long, long, long overdue,” said Bill Weaver, fire research coordinator for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “But we’re now convinced that respirators will be a definite benefit.”

The nation’s 80,000 wild land firefighters represent the last frontier when it comes to workplace safety; unlike most jobs that are strictly regulated, no health standards or safety equipment protect them from assault by soot and toxic gases.

Two years ago, researchers revealed that California firefighters lost as much as 10% of their lung capacity after one season, and that the smoke exposure could trigger respiratory disease such as asthma and perhaps even cancer.

When wood and brush catch fire, incomplete combustion transforms harmless vegetation into a brew of dangerous chemicals and tiny particles that lodge in lungs.

The common wisdom has been that firefighters battling brush and forest fires, unlike their urban counterparts, cannot wear respiratory protection because it would impair their movement and obstruct their vision.

But the opposite has proved true. When state forestry firefighters in Sunol, between San Jose and Oakland, and Vina, near Chico, were equipped with full-face, air-purifying masks for part of a summer season, it not only eased the burden on their lungs, but also enhanced their firefighting ability. In all, 24 firefighters tried the masks during the past two summers.

“The masks definitely helped in heavy smoke. There’s no doubt about that. It would definitely be well worth the investment for any department,” said Paul Gonzalez, a seasonal firefighter at the Sunol station who fought more than a dozen fires last summer wearing a respirator.

Even in the thickest smoke, firefighters wearing the masks were amazed to find that their eyes, throats and lungs didn’t burn, they didn’t cough and gag and they weren’t blinded by smoke. Instead of focusing on their own survival, they could concentrate on dousing the flames.

Among firefighters who battled the 1991 Oakland blaze, those who did not don respirators were sick for days, while crews that did wear them were able to return to work immediately.

“With that mask on, you weren’t worried about when you could take your next breath,” Gonzalez said. “You could breathe normally. There was a sense of being a lot more calm, and you could see clearly because your eyes weren’t watering and burning, and your lungs weren’t burning.

“A lot of times, you get a massive headache and feel real nauseous (after fires), but with the mask you didn’t get that at all,” he said.

Unlike the men and women who fight structure fires, those who battle wildfires are unable to strap on 40-pound air tanks that provide full protection from smoke. Already they are burdened with 60 pounds of hoses and tools as they hike miles through burning terrain.

The new, $100 masks weigh one pound and contain charcoal and fiberglass cartridges to filter soot and toxic and cancer-causing substances that bind to the tiny particles. They also are equipped with an electronic sensor that flashes a red warning light when carbon monoxide is dangerously high.

Still, the masks as currently designed provide only partial protection. They cannot filter toxic gases, including carbon monoxide, an especially dangerous invisible vapor that attacks the nervous system, slows reaction time and impairs judgment. And the devices work best during the initial attack on a fire, rather than during chronic exposure from battling forest fires that persist for days or weeks.

“We know it’s a compromise,” Weaver said. “There is no technology that can provide 100% protection like the self-contained breathing apparatus worn by structural firefighters.”

There are other drawbacks. The firefighters who wore them reported difficulty breathing during heavy exertion. And they complained that the masks are difficult to put on and take off, and that sweat builds up on the plastic shield.

But they said the benefits far exceed the disadvantages, and that such problems can probably be resolved through design changes.

Alarmed by new medical findings and a surge in horrific wildfires spurred by California’s persistent drought, the state forestry department, its labor union and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory began experimenting with the masks two summers ago.

Next year, testing will expand to 50 to 100 firefighters. Under a two-year contract with the state, Lawrence Livermore will study which filters trap the most particles and develop a refined version of the masks.

The forestry agency hopes to squeeze about $1 million from the state budget to supply all 8,000 full-time, seasonal, volunteer and prison inmate firefighters for the 1995 fire season, Weaver said.

At that point, county fire departments in brushy areas such as Los Angeles and Orange counties will probably follow the recommendation and buy their own. Also, U.S. Forest Service officials are conducting similar tests and hope to supply masks to their crews.

Until then, California firefighters are prohibited from wearing the masks unless they are chosen for the project. State forestry officials say they do not want to distribute the respirators until they know what configuration and filter works best. Some firefighters have been denied permission to buy their own.

Weaver said it is a matter of health as well as cost and legal issues. The wrong type of mask could endanger firefighters if they get overconfident about the protection.

“We’ve used bandannas for so long, we can wait a little bit more,” said Jim Wattenburger, a fire captain in Mendocino County who is health and safety adviser for the California Department of Forestry Employees Assn.

“We’re the largest wild land firefighting crew in the nation, so for us to put our name and backing on this, we want it to be the best,” Wattenburger said.

Detecting a Silent Killer

Safety masks can remove tiny, poisonous particles in smoke and alert wild-land firefighters to the presence of carbon monoxide, a gas that is potentially as hazardous as fire. Fire officials are now refining this prototype mask for statewide use.

Face mask: Silicon rubber fitted with clear, plastic lens and fire-retardant head straps.

Breathing port: Disposable filtering canisters filled with static-charged fiberglass and activated charcoal remove particulates and poisons, except for gases such as carbon monoxide. Cartridges are changed when breathing becomes difficult or smoke seeps through.

Indicator light: Flashes green when sensor detects safe air. When carbon monoxide levels reach 50 parts per million, light turns red.

Exhalation port: Equipped with a one-way valve to release exhaled air.

Carbon monoxide sensor: Battery-operated, measures amount of carbon monoxide in the air. If accepted by fire officials, will be redesigned to about the size of a pocket watch.

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Smoke’s Deadliest Ingredients

Carbon monoxide: An invisible odorless gas released during combustion. Cannot be filtered. Stresses the heart, attacks the brain and nervous system. Firefighters are just as likely to suffer carbon monoxide poisoning as they are severe burns.

Organic acid vapors: Formic acid, acetic acid, acrolein and formaldehyde. Heavily concentrated during spring blazes when green grass is burning. Causes coughing, wheezing and eye irritation. Can be filtered.

Particulates: Tiny particles of soot that lodge deep in the lungs, causing permanent damage, even cancer. Heavily concentrated in smoldering conditions, where firefighters spend most of their time. Can be trapped by filters.

Source: California Department of Forestry, Lawrence Livermore Laboratories

Researched by Janice L. Jones / Los Angeles Times