environmental Health Investigations branch

Person wearing an N95 mask, a pregnant person, and someone using an inhaler

Wildfire Health Plan Initiative

California plan for communicating about wildfire smoke

As wildfires become more frequent across California, the resulting smoke can impact our health. Older adults, children, pregnant individuals, and those with pre-existing heart or lung conditions are more vulnerable to the health impacts of smoke. Additionally, not all Californians have equal access to resources to protect themselves.

The CDPH Wildfire Health Plan will provide guidance on educating the public about how wildfire smoke can harm our health and how we can protect ourselves. It will also focus on the smooth delivery of masks, respirators, and portable air cleaners for the people most affected by wildfire smoke in the state. The team can provide support for communities and counties to implement recommendations from the Wildfire Health Plan.

For technical assistance or general information from the Wildfire Health Plan team, please email WildfireHealthPlan@cdph.ca.gov. The Plan is currently under development with input from partners.

Wildfire Smoke Education Toolkit

The Wildfire Health Plan includes a Wildfire Smoke Education Toolkit that can be used as a training resource for community health workers, promotores de salud, community leaders, and outreach workers.

These individuals are culturally and linguistically best equipped to reach and educate community members most affected by wildfire smoke. Counties and local health agencies may also use the Wildfire Smoke Education Toolkit to support how they communicate about wildfire smoke.

The Toolkit is made up of five modules that cover a variety of topics:

Note: Please use Chrome browser to access these PowerPoint files. They may not properly download when using Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge.

The Toolkit will include additional modules on masks, workers and clean air rooms and air cleaners. It will also include leader guides for each module. For more information, please email WildfireHealthPlan@cdph.ca.gov.

Survey Findings: Exploring Wildfire Experiences within the Central Valley of California

This project aimed to understand experiences of Central Valley communities during past wildfire smoke events including:

actions taken to reduce wildfire smoke,
preferred methods of communication, and
concerns for future wildfire smoke events.

The survey findings establish a deeper understanding of community experiences and gaps in public outreach during recent wildfire smoke events, which will inform the development of CDPH's Wildfire Health Plan. The findings of this report ensure that the Wildfire Health Plan recommendations are reflective of the realities of people who are most vulnerable to the impacts of wildfire smoke.