North America's Wildfire Season is About to Peak

Is Your Mass Fatality Plan Ready?

Wildfire season is here in North America, and it’s off to a harrowing start.

On June 12th, Canada’s Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair announced that over 47,000 square kilometers have burned across the country so far this year1. While Western Canada has become more accustomed to wildfires, there has been an unprecedented amount of wildfire activity in Eastern Canada – primarily in Nova Scotia and Quebec. And with over 400 wildfires reported across Canada, the country is on track to have its worst wildfire season in history.

Wildfires produce dangerous levels of particulate matter (PM) and cause harmful air quality thousands of miles from the source. Thousands of respiratory and cardiovascular deaths are directly attributed to wildfire pollution each year, with even short-term exposure to PM2.5 leading to increased asthma, reduced lung function, and premature death in people with heart or lung disease2. PM2.5 also contains cancer-causing carcinogens, and mutagens, which can lead to other types of cancers3.

Across the US and Canada, wildfire season typically lasts from May to October, peaking at the height of summer in July and August. Life-threatening smoke from Canada has already crossed the border and affected the air quality for more than 75 million people in the Northeast, Mid-West, and Mid-Atlantic of the US4.

With the peak of wildfire season quickly approaching, organizations need to consider their mass fatality plan and secure additional body storage capacity for peaks in death rates.

Are you prepared with extra decedent storage should the worst occur?

Using the ResponStor® Portable Morgue as Part of Your Organization’s Mass Fatality Plan:

- Quick and easy assembly ensures the ResponStor is operational within 30 minutes.

- The refrigerated system stores bodies at the optimal temperature to avoid decomposition and ensure dignity for the deceased.

- The portability of the ResponStor allows it to be set up wherever a wildfire response center may be located, in order to effectively manage decedents.

- The ResponStor can also be used as a mortuary overflow solution to manage excess deaths.