Dante’s kindling box

Almost half of the Canadian landscape is made up of forests, but the amount of forest surface area burned every year has been growing steadily since 1960.1 This can be problematic due to the effects that forest fires have not only on the local environment but also on the globe as a whole. A forest fire or vegetation fire is defined as any open fire of vegetation such as savannah, forest, agriculture, or peat that is initiated by humans or nature.2 Vegetation fires contribute heavily to air pollution and climate change and are in turn exacerbated by them as well. Air pollution increases due to emissions from these fires, which contain 90-95% carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide as well as methane and other volatile compounds.2 Emissions from forest fires also contribute to global greenhouse gases and aerosol particles (biomass burning organic aerosols),2 leading to indirect and direct consequences to human health. In contrast to biomass burning for household heating and cooking, catastrophic events of forest fires and sweeping grassland fires result in unique exposures and health consequences. In this case report, the relationship between environmental hazardous air pollutants and the potential physiological and psychological health effects associated with the forest fire that affected Fort McMurray, AB in May 2016 are considered.