NFPA Journal - May/June 2020 - 21

in NFPA's Wildfire Division. Deaton said he
had seen comments
online from firefighters
in European countries
outside Ukraine who
expressed fear over the
idea of responding to
a wildfire under such
circumstances. "I think
for them the biggest
fear is not knowing the
condition of the fuel
that's burning," he said.
"It's not about tactics.
They would attack it the
same way they attack
any wildfire, but it's a
concern over what it
is that's burning and
knowing, with Chernobyl, that the fuel is
radioactive."
Because the soil
and vegetation in the
exlusion zone is still
irradiated from the
explosion, when it
burns, the resulting ash
is also radioactive.
NFPA Journal sent an
email to the Exclusion
Zone Management
Agency asking if firefighters battling the
April blaze needed to
wear special personal
protective equipment,
but it wasn't answered
before the magazine's
deadline. In photos
taken during the blaze,
some firefighters
appeared to be wearing
respirator masks-but
that could be a result
of the coronavirus
pandemic, not because
of concerns over exposure to radioactive
ash. Deaton theorized
that outfitting wildland firefighters
with radiation-blocking gear could be
impossible because suits made for
that purpose are laced with heavy,
non-breathable materials like rubber
and lead and would get far too hot for
firefighters working in close proximity
to heat and flames. "It's a lesson we
learned with soldiers during the Gulf
War," he said. "If you can't wear them
in the desert, you definitely can't wear
them in a wildfire."
On April 17, Reuters reported that air
pollution levels in the Ukrainian capital
city of Kiev, located about 60 miles
south of Chernobyl, were the highest in the world-a result of the fires.
Radiation levels in the city, however,
remained normal.

Latin America
All NFPA Journal content now
translated into Spanish
In an effort to bring more fire, life, and
electrical safety information to Spanish speakers around the world, NFPA
announced earlier this year that every
issue of NFPA Journal will now be published digitally in Spanish. The new web
content will be known as NFPA Journal
en Español.
NFPA Journal, the award-winning
membership magazine of NFPA, is published six times per year and is available
in print, web, and digital formats.
The change replaces Journal Latinoamericano, a print publication that for
over 20 years has included selections
of articles from NFPA Journal and was
circulated four times a year.
To read or sign up for updates from
NFPA Journal en Español, visit nfpajla.org.
Sichuan Province, China
China wildfire kills 18 firefighters one
year after 27 die in similar blaze
In late March, a wildland blaze in the
Sichuan Province region in southwest
China killed 18 firefighters and one

forest guide. The fire occurred a year
after a similar incident in the region
killed 30 people.
The most recent fire started on a
farm and, fed by strong winds, spread
through roughly 2,500 acres of the
mountainous region, Wildfire Today
reported. In March 2019, 27 firefighters
and three civilians died in a wildfire
that consumed less than 100 acres of
land in the province. No reports have
shed any light on how exactly dozens
of firefighters died battling these two,
relatively small wildland blazes.
While no global database exists on
firefighter fatalities, the incidents likely
rank among the country's deadliest
wildfires in history. In the United States,
for example, only three recorded
wildfires have killed more than 15 firefighters, according to NFPA data.
An article published by Bloomberg
in April painted a chilling picture of
wildfire in China, which is pursuing
widespread reforestation efforts-and
increasing forest fuel loads as a result.
"China has entered a period with high
fire risk," the country's forest service
warned in a statement, according to
Bloomberg. Add to that a warming
climate, and these larger swaths of forested land are beginning to burn more
frequently and with greater ferocity.

'HIGH RISK'
An estimated 45 Chinese wildland firefighters have
died battling wildfires in the past two years, and experts
warn reforestation efforts in the country will lead to
more wildfires in the near future. GETTY IMAGES

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NFPA Journal - May/June 2020

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