About the FEMA grant

The grant has been funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Fiscal Year 2022, for the Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) Grant Program as an Early Investigator Award. The total project has a budget slightly above $400K.

The collaborative research team, including the fire service partners, has extensive expertise in wildland firefighting, hydration, occupational health, and statistics. The team consists of a wide range of partners that are willing to help implement the new hydration self-assessment knowledge from this project.

Leadership Team

The academic research team includes faculty from the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University (ASU), including Dr. Floris Wardenaar, as PI and Dr. Stavros Kavouras, Co-I and project mentor; professor David Sklar (MD) for medical oversight; Dr. Gwyneth Gordon, as an expert in heavy water analyses; and Dr. Ryan Seltzer, as a statistician from the Biostatistics core. In addition, students will be offered to participate in this project, this includes graduate and undergraduate students.

Additionally, the team can build on the experience of Dr. Jeff Burgess (University of Arizona, UA), who also will be a project mentor; and experienced research consultant, Dr. Brent Ruby (University of Montana, UM).

Student Team

The student research aides include students from the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University (ASU), including Ms. Kinta Schott, PhD student and other graduate and undergraduate students.

Partners and Dissemination Team

The Tonto National Forest, covering over 2.9 million acres, with a range in altitude from 1,300-7,900 feet, is the sixth largest among 154 USDA National Forests. It protects six major water reservoirs that are important drinking water resources for the Phoenix, AZ area. The critical fire season usually lasts from May to mid-July, with an average of 330 wildfires per year. The regional USFS leadership will assist in implementing the studies and help disseminate our results and deliverables within their crews.
Contact persons from Tonto National Forest: Richard Remington.

The Fire Department Safety Officers Association’s (FDSOA) mission is to promote safety standards and practices in the fire, rescue, and emergency services, including members actively involved in WUI. The FDSOA strives to be a voice for emergency responders in general, therefore, they are a valuable partner in communicating our results to the U.S. firefighting community. They will share the results with n=3400 members, which are often local fire safety officers, via their website, training programs, and during their conference, which will take place in Scottsdale, AZ in 2024 and 2026.
Contact person: Eric Valliere.

The U.S. Hotshots Association (USHA) will help transmit our results to Hotshots crews throughout the U.S. through their newsletter and by organizing interactive webinar sessions. The USHA intends to support WLFF innovation and advancement toward safety, leadership, and fire suppression. There is a diverse member population (n~439) affiliated with the Hotshots community.
Contact person: Mike Alarid.

The Wildfire Conservancy is a California-based non-profit corporation with the mission to address critical issues related to wildfires and the wildland/urban interface. They have investigated and addressed the importance of hydration. They partner in their endeavors with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), employing over 11,000 seasonal WLFFs, and they will use the developed education materials, including the hydration self-assessment worksheet, to inform the workforce of CAL FIRE.
Contact person: George Broyles.

The Netherlands Institute for Public Safety (NIPV) is the public knowledge institute for crisis management and firefighting in the Netherlands. As a result of global warming, the number of wildland fires in mainland Europe has increased. The NIPV, serving fire brigades in 25 Safety Regions with 25,000 firefighters, is willing to implement the results of this study in its firefighter education program.
Contact person: Ronald Heus and Ricardo Weewer.