Eli5: why do firefighters wear oxygen masks when fighting a building fire, but often not in a wildfire? You’re still breathing in smoke…
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Because structure firefighters (regular firefighters) go into enclosed spaces with burning plastic products which produces hazardous fumes that will kill you. Wildland firefighters are in the woods dealing with small particulate matter. That’s bad, but not “kill you immediately” bad
A bush fire is burning wood and fibre debris. It’s no worse for you than a campfire. Structure fires burn all sorts of things. Couches, carpets, electronics, plastics, etc. All these manufactured goods release very toxic chemicals when burned. None of these you want to inhale.
Another good point on top of all the good responses is that it isn’t the same smoke really. The products of combustion off of a wildfire are mostly natural fuels: wood, grass, leaves, etc.
In a structure fire you have foams, beds, synthetic carpet, plastic, cars, vinyl siding, insulation, and on and on that creates a much deadlier smoke with a higher presence of both acutely deadly gasses and chronic carcinogenic gasses.
Another good point on top of all the good responses is that it isn’t the same smoke really. The products of combustion off of a wildfire are mostly natural fuels: wood, grass, leaves, etc.
In a structure fire you have foams, beds, synthetic carpet, plastic, cars, vinyl siding, insulation, and on and on that creates a much deadlier smoke with a higher presence of both acutely deadly gasses and chronic carcinogenic gasses.
The amount of workable time you can use a BA for is at best 30-45 minutes, which just isn’t feasible in a bushfire/wildfire situation.
On top of that most bushfire/wildfires are burning only natural fuel in an open atmosphere. Whilst this still isn’t great to breathe it is world’s better than breathing in the smoke from manufactured products that most house fire contain. Being out in the open and placing yourself upwind also limits the amount of smoke you actually inhale.
Plastics and other synthetics when burnt are highly carcinogenic, throw into the mix that all that smoke is usually trapped in a room or building and you can see why you don’t want it anywhere near your lungs.
I have packed up on a couple of wildfires, but it is rare. The main thing is that the SCBA only lasts for a little while before running out of air. Even on a structure fire we only wear them while going interior or being right in the smoke. Depending on the department, once you have used up a tank (or two for my department) then you have to go to rehab for a specific amount of time and can’t be working.
On a wildland fire… that amount of time won’t really work. On the big ones you are out there for days packing around the wilderness and carrying all that extra weight on top of all the gear you are already packing around be a lot. It just isn’t practical. If there was some way we could (like some cool filter mask) we would do that.
You’re right, though the exposure risk isn’t as significant for structure fires as wildfires, it’s still BAD bad, and with the information coming out on smoke and diesel particulates over the last few years you might expect to see changes around PPE at wildfires soon.
I’m in Australia, and the attitudes around smoke exposure has really changed in the last 20 years that it’s not unusual to see newer gen guys go into a smoked-out room in BA, but oldboys swagger in with nothing to save time. We’re beginning to see shifts in the use of PPE expanding out to better usage at bushfires now because of how dramatic cancer rates are in the occupation.
As someone else was saying here, funding is a part of it; as urban firefighters we have access to negative pressure masks with readily replenished MPC canisters, which volunteer rurals don’t. Also the putting on and taking off of masks is a lot of faffing around so the incentive doesn’t really seem to be there when you *may* be dealing with outcomes in 10-30 years.
Other people already answered thoroughly. But just to add, it’s not oxygen is just compressed air. An oxygen tank would be a bad accessory to a fire.
Building fires are small in comparison to forest fires, so the firefighters are closer to the flames and smoke, often in enclosed spaces.
Wildland fires in comparison are huge and out in the open. People fighting forest fires generally have to keep a long distance between them and the actual fire. Not necessarily because of the smoke but rather because the fires are huge and can move fast.
The job involves a lot of digging and removal of potential fuel rather than attempting to quench the flames.
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