Wildfire Smoke: A Guide for Public Health Officials is intended to provide state, tribal and local public health officials with information they need to be prepared for smoke events and, when wildfire smoke is present, to communicate health risks and take measures to protect the public. Although developed for public health officials, the information in this document may be useful to many other groups including health professionals, air quality officials, and members of the public. The document is divided into five Chapters and five Appendices. In 2021, four corrections and additional contacts were added to the Guide, which can be found in 2021 Changes to Wildfire Smoke: A Guide for Public Health Officials.

Guide authors and contributors will post up-to-date guidance, documents, and other new evidence-based information on the Post-publication Updates web page between revisions for use by public health officials. Information about COVID-19 and wildfire smoke, which was developed after publication of the Guide, can also be found in the Post-publication Updates web page.

To facilitate communication, Guide authors have developed downloadable factsheets (in English and Spanish) that can be disseminated directly to the public. Links to the factsheets can be found on the Wildfire Guide Factsheets web page. New factsheets are developed between fire seasons so check this page regularly. Have an idea for a factsheet that you don’t see here? Contact one of the Guide authors with your suggestion.

Check Using AirNow during Wildfires to learn more about using key parts of the AirNow website: the Fire and Smoke Map, the Dial, and the Interactive Map. For more information on wildfires see the Fires page.