Emergency Preparedness and Response: Wildfires

Expert Audiences: Public Health and Home Repair

Geared toward professionals in the public health and home repair sectors, the comprehensive and technical resources found below provide guidance specific to each field about protecting the public and property during wildfires.

Wildfire Smoke & Public Health: Public Policy Strategies to Reduce Exposure and Strengthen Resilience 
Published by the American Lung Association, this resource provides advocates, public health professionals, and policymakers with policy options available at the federal, state, and local levels to reduce the severity of wildfires and better prepare communities for wildfire smoke pollution. [pdf; ALA, 2026]

Wildfire Smoke: A Guide for Public Health Officials (Revised 2026)
Resulting as a product from interagency collaboration between the CDC, EPA, and many others, this guide provides guidance for state, local, and tribal public health officials to be prepare 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, this guide could be useful to many other groups including health professionals, air quality officials, and members of the public. [pdf; EPA, 2026]

Wildfire Smoke and Health Factsheets 
Developed to accompany Wildfire Smoke: A Guide for Public Health Officials, these fact sheets cover a variety of health topics related to wildfire smoke, including preparing for smoke, protecting your health, and managing indoor air quality. [url; EPA, 2026]

Residential Air Cleaners: A Technical Summary
This EPA document is geared towards residential housing design professionals, public health officials, and indoor air quality professionals and provides general information and a reference guide on residential air cleaners. [pdf; EPA, 2018]

Wildfire Smoke: Considerations for California’s Public Health Officials
This publication, prepared by the California Department of Public Health for its public health officials, offers information on the health effects of wildfire smoke, actions that can be taken to reduce exposure, and other public health considerations. [pdf; CDPH, 2019]

Home Builder’s Guide to Construction in Wildfire Zones
This is a series of technical fact sheets about construction in wildfire zones, including selecting a location, defensible space, various parts of the house, and community infrastructure. [pdf; FEMA, 2008]

Multi-Faceted EPA Research Addressing Threats to Public Health from Wildfire Smoke
This article provides updates to recent and current EPA research initiatives studying smoke intrusion and strategies to reduce smoke exposure to help partners learn how to prepare and respond to wildfires and how to reduce smoke indoors. [url; EPA, 2021]

 

 

Latest page update: July 8, 2026.