Federal firefighters will be encouraged to wear N95 respirators in major policy reversal

Source: NBC News

June 24, 2026, 11:19 AM EDT


For the first time, federal firefighters will be encouraged to wear respirators to protect them against smoke-related hazards as they work to put out wildland blazes.

The Forest Service announced Wednesday that firefighters were authorized to use N95 respirators on the fire line, a major policy reversal as the agency for decades did not allow such protections, even as studies demonstrated the health harms of wildfire smoke.

“It’s long, long overdue,” said George Broyles, a longtime Forest Service firefighter who has researched wildfire exposure risks. “There’s no doubt that our men and women out there are at higher risk of cancer and heart disease.”To Broyles, the policy change represents a long-awaited acknowledgment from the Forest Service that wildfire smoke is toxic and that the agency ought to find ways to reduce its workers’ risks.

The Forest Service has been slow to address the health effects of wildfire smoke and to enact worker protections in the difficult-to-control environment of a wildfire.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/firefighters-wear-n95-respirators-policy-change-rcna351438