A New Interface: Wildfires Meet Refinery Fires
By Kay Bechtold
June 5, 2026—As wildfires increase in frequency and occur closer to industrial zones, occupational and environmental health and safety professionals must be prepared to address concurrent chemical and smoke exposures and new risks, a pair of presenters told AIHA Connect attendees on Wednesday morning. Rajan Puri, MD, MPH, the corporate medical director and physician overseeing the clinics of a nationwide oil and gas company, and industrial hygienist Wayne LaCombe, CIH, CSP, know from experience the benefits of collaboration when it comes to tackling the “convergence challenge” of refinery fires and wildfires. They work to bring industrial hygiene and occupational medicine together during fire response at PBF Energy.
A “unique hurricane of events” is prompting this need for a unified response to fires in industrial settings, Puri explained. The climate is changing, refineries are aging, and development is expanding. Puri noted that neighborhoods are getting closer to industrial facilities and that wildfires are burning closer to homes and these facilities, creating a new interface between wildland, urban, and industrial settings.
The smoke profiles, hazards, exposures, and health and safety concerns from refinery fires versus wildfires are distinct in some ways but overlapping in others. Puri characterized refinery or petrochemical fires as acute—they tend to be put out fairly quickly and typically occur in a confined area—whereas wildfires are more cumulative, as they can burn over thousands of acres and for weeks or months. This leads to extended periods of exposure that can exacerbate preexisting conditions and put strain on the body over time. The fuel source of fires also affects health and safety concerns; for example, wildfires burn biomass, and refinery fires burn more complex materials. The fuel burned by fires in the wildland-urban-industrial interface varies widely, and Puri stressed that first responders are often not sure of what’s being burned—“and if they do, they don’t know the aftereffects of those events,” he said.
The smoke profiles of petroleum fires and wildfires both contain fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, but comprise different organics, combustion byproducts, and other chemicals. Hydrocarbons like benzene and toluene—“a lot of things that people in the public and especially firefighters aren’t used to,” according to Puri—are found in the smoke profiles of refinery fires along with acid gases, which he says are often seen in alkylation units. Sulfur dioxide, a combustion byproduct of refinery fires is minimal in wildfire smoke by comparison. The thermal hazards of petrochemical fires include radiant heat and steam releases, and the intense heat from these fires “will hit you like a ton of bricks,” Puri said.
Asphyxiation, acute respiratory hazards, dermal exposures, thermal injuries, and carcinogenic risk are of concern for both petrochemical fires and those occurring at the wildland-urban interface, but refinery fires differ in that responders and others may face exposure to hydrogen sulfide, respiratory chemical irritants, and chemicals that are caustic to the skin. Despite the differences in how to treat, manage, and monitor individuals exposed to different types of fires, OEHS and occupational medicine professionals’ response is similar, including detection and evaluation, monitoring, personal protective equipment and decontamination protocols, and burn risk assessments. Even though exposures are more acute in petrochemical scenarios, Puri stressed that the effects can be long lasting.
“It’s important to monitor these workers,” he added. “Long-term surveillance may be warranted in both types of fires.”
Puri works with his IH colleague, LaCombe, to ensure a coordinated response to fires affecting their workforce. This response occurs in four phases, all based on duration. During the first phase, or the first 24 hours of an incident, the IH team conducts real-time monitoring as needed and establishes the PPE required for working in different areas, while the occupational medicine team works on medical triage, symptom screening, and emergency treatment. The second, third, and fourth phases encompass the first day to the first week, one to four weeks, and months to years after a fire incident, respectively. The IH response includes a range of activities, from air and surface wipe sampling to clearance sampling and residual hazard mapping, whereas occupational medicine can involve efforts such as respiratory surveillance, medical clearance exams, and cancer screening protocols.
LaCombe stressed the importance of risk communication during fires. Being consistent, empathetic, and action-oriented in risk communication is a way to show good faith, he said. Transparency and timeliness are two more key principles given today’s greater demand for both.
“We have to be open and honest,” LaCombe said. “People know when they’re being kept in the dark. And [communication] has to be timely—you can’t wait and delay information both to your workforce and the community.”
A company’s risk communication strategy must also consider the many stakeholders involved: workers, leadership, regulators, the community, and, in some cases, unions or other workers’ representatives. Messaging is likely to change with each audience as is the method of channeling communications, LaCombe explained. For example, a facility might communicate differently with industrial versus residential neighbors. And if industrial hygienists are seeing elevated numbers in community air samples around a facility, it’s important to communicate that both with the community and with the healthcare facilities where community members might be seeking care, LaCombe continued.
As the risk for these types of fire events increases, LaCombe and Puri encouraged OEHS professionals to interact with medical personnel at their workplaces.
“I may be the only physician [at AIHA Connect], but I’m happy to have a good relationship with my IH colleague here and across the company,” Puri said.
Kay Bechtold is managing editor of The Synergist.