Peak Fire Fly Ash Exposure Event 2026

While initial attacking a fire near Beckwourth, CA, resources notice the fire is burning in an unknown material that has a strange smell, unusual fire activity, and was causing some minor respiratory irritation. Thirty-seven firefighters were examined by an EMS group on site and later taken to a local hospital for further medical review.

It was determined the fire had burned through an area where fly ash had been applied by the landowner as a soil amendment. Wood Fly Ash is a byproduct of burning wood material in an energy-generating plant. Fly Ash is a chemically inert material that--with excessive occupational uncontrolled inhalation--may cause lung cancer.