Editing Wildfire (section)

=== Post-fire risks ===
[[File:Prospect Hill bushfire.jpg|thumb|Charred shrubland in suburban [[Sydney]] ([[2019–20 Australian bushfire season|2019–20 Australian bushfires]]).]]
After a wildfire, hazards remain. Residents returning to their homes may be at risk from falling fire-weakened trees. Humans and pets may also be harmed by falling into [[ash pit]]s. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also reports that wildfires cause significant damage to electric systems, especially in dry regions.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6wg3/index.html |title=IPCC Sixth Assessment Report 2022 |access-date=7 April 2022 |archive-date=4 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404162105/https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6wg3/index.html }}</ref>

[[Chemically contaminated drinking water]], at levels of hazardous waste concern, is a growing problem. In particular, hazardous waste scale chemical contamination of buried water systems was first discovered in the U.S. in 2017,<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1002/aws2.1183 | title=Wildfire caused widespread drinking water distribution network contamination | date=2020 | last1=Proctor | first1=Caitlin R. | last2=Lee | first2=Juneseok | last3=Yu | first3=David | last4=Shah | first4=Amisha D. | last5=Whelton | first5=Andrew J. | journal=AWWA Water Science | volume=2 | issue=4 | bibcode=2020AWWWS...2E1183P | s2cid=225641536 }}</ref> and has since been increasingly documented in Hawaii, Colorado, and Oregon after wildfires.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1002/aws2.1318 | title=The Marshall Fire: Scientific and policy needs for water system disaster response | date=2023 | last1=Whelton | first1=Andrew J. | last2=Seidel | first2=Chad | last3=Wham | first3=Brad P. | last4=Fischer | first4=Erica C. | last5=Isaacson | first5=Kristofer | last6=Jankowski | first6=Caroline | last7=MacArthur | first7=Nathan | last8=McKenna | first8=Elizabeth | last9=Ley | first9=Christian | journal=AWWA Water Science | volume=5 | issue=1 | bibcode=2023AWWWS...5E1318W | doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2021, Canadian authorities adapted their post-fire public safety investigation approaches in British Columbia to screen for this risk, but have not found it as of 2023. Another challenge is that private drinking wells and the plumbing within a building can also become chemically contaminated and unsafe.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1002/aws2.1319 | title=Wildfire damage and contamination to private drinking water wells | date=2023 | last1=Jankowski | first1=Caroline | last2=Isaacson | first2=Kristofer | last3=Larsen | first3=Madeline | last4=Ley | first4=Christian | last5=Cook | first5=Myles | last6=Whelton | first6=Andrew J. | journal=AWWA Water Science | volume=5 | issue=1 | bibcode=2023AWWWS...5E1319J | doi-access=free }}</ref> Households experience a wide-variety of significant economic and health impacts related to this contaminated water.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s11069-021-04714-9 |title=Water safety attitudes, risk perception, experiences, and education for households impacted by the 2018 Camp Fire, California |date=3 May 2021 |first1=Tolulope O. |last1=Odimayomi |first2=Caitlin R. |last2=Proctor |first3=Qi Erica |last3=Wang |first4=Arman |last4=Sabbaghi |first5=Kimberly S. |last5=Peterson |first6=David J. |last6=Yu |first7=Juneseok |last7=Lee |first8=Amisha D. |last8=Shah |first9=Christian J. |last9=Ley |first10=Yoorae |last10=Noh |first11=Charlotte D. |last11=Smith |first12=Jackson P. |last12=Webster |first13=Kristin |last13=Milinkevich |first14=Michael W. |last14=Lodewyk |first15=Julie A. |last15=Jenks |first16=James F. |last16=Smith |first17=Andrew J. |last17=Whelton |journal=Natural Hazards |volume=108 |issue=1 |pages=947–975|bibcode=2021NatHa.108..947O }}</ref> Evidence-based guidance on how to inspect and test wildfire impacted wells <ref>{{cite web |url=https://engineering.purdue.edu/PlumbingSafety/resources/After-a-Wildfire-Private-Drinking-Water-Wells-2021-05-16.pdf |title=After a Wildfire: Water Safety Considerations for Private Wells |date=16 May 2021 |publisher=Purdue University}}</ref> and building water systems was developed for the first time in 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://engineering.purdue.edu/PlumbingSafety/resources/After-a-Wildfire-Water-Safety-in-Buildings-2021-05-16.pdf |title=After a Wildfire: Water Safety Considerations Inside Buildings |date=16 May 2021 |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=17 December 2023 |archive-date=17 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217071449/https://engineering.purdue.edu/PlumbingSafety/resources/After-a-Wildfire-Water-Safety-in-Buildings-2021-05-16.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In Paradise, California, for example,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.civilbeat.org/2023/12/fire-destroyed-this-california-towns-water-system-but-that-didnt-slow-the-effort-to-rebuild/ | title=Fire Destroyed This California Town's Water System. But That Didn't Slow the Effort to Rebuild | date=12 December 2023 | access-date=17 December 2023 | archive-date=17 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217071449/https://www.civilbeat.org/2023/12/fire-destroyed-this-california-towns-water-system-but-that-didnt-slow-the-effort-to-rebuild/ | url-status=live }}</ref> the 2018 Camp Fire caused more than $150 million dollars worth of damage. This required almost a year of time to decontaminate and repair the municipal drinking water system from wildfire damage.

The source of this contamination was first proposed after the 2018 Camp Fire in California as originating from thermally degraded plastics in water systems, smoke and vapors entering depressurized plumbing, and contaminated water in buildings being sucked into the municipal water system. In 2020, it was first shown that thermal degradation of plastic drinking water materials was one potential contamination source.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1039/D0EW00836B | title=Drinking water contamination from the thermal degradation of plastics: Implications for wildfire and structure fire response | date=2021 | last1=Isaacson | first1=Kristofer P. | last2=Proctor | first2=Caitlin R. | last3=Wang | first3=Q. Erica | last4=Edwards | first4=Ethan Y. | last5=Noh | first5=Yoorae | last6=Shah | first6=Amisha D. | last7=Whelton | first7=Andrew J. | journal=Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology | volume=7 | issue=2 | pages=274–284 | doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2023, the second theory was confirmed where contamination could be sucked into pipes that lost water pressure.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1007/s10694-023-01487-4 | title=Pilot Study on Fire Effluent Condensate from Full Scale Residential Fires | date=2023 | last1=Horn | first1=Gavin P. | last2=Dow | first2=Nicholas W. | last3=Neumann | first3=Danielle L. | journal=Fire Technology | volume=60 | pages=1–18 | doi-access=free }}</ref>

Other post-fire risks, can increase if other [[extreme weather]] follows. For example, wildfires make soil less able to absorb precipitation, so heavy rainfall can result in more severe [[flooding]] and damages like [[mud slide]]s.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1061/9780784482834.019 |chapter=Post-Fire Mudflow Prevention by Biopolymer Treatment of Water Repellent Slopes |title=Geo-Congress 2020 |date=2020 |last1=Movasat |first1=Mahta |last2=Tomac |first2=Ingrid |pages=170–178 |isbn=978-0-7844-8283-4 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Palmer |first=Jane |date=12 January 2022 |title=The devastating mudslides that follow forest fires |journal=Nature |volume=601 |issue=7892 |pages=184–186 |doi=10.1038/d41586-022-00028-3 |pmid=35022598 |bibcode=2022Natur.601..184P |doi-access=free }}</ref>