Summary

Wildfires are burning all over North America right now, in August 2025. Wildfires affect our wellbeing. We need experts to help us deal with wildfires. Call your elected officials and let them know that we need FEMA and many other federal agencies to be funded. We need federal agencies to help all of us during wildfires.

Wildfires and Wellbeing

Wildfires create smoke which can travel long distances. Wildfire smoke affects our wellbeing. Let’s discuss wildfires and wellbeing.

Wildfires in the 21rst Century

Smokey Bear has been an icon in the USA, teaching people for 80 years about fire prevention. https://smokeybear.com/

Wonderful.

In the 21rst Century, we need a dose of science to carry the mission of Smokey Bear for another 80 years. Starting with addressing climate change. Because climate change is increasing the frequency and the intensity of extreme weather events, including the frequency and intensity of wildfires.

Climate change is a variable which affects our wellbeing. The results of climactic changes impact our housing, our livelihoods, our health, our safety, our access to resources like food and fuel, and our happiness. Anxiety related to climate change and sadness related to the effects of climate change are real, just as climate change is real.

North American wildfires are affecting all of us.

Although Québec is experiencing a rather quiet wildfire season, Québec is still being covered in wildfire smoke. Fires have raged this year on the Navajo Nation, in California, and in Canadian provinces west of Québec. The smoke wafts and is carried miles away. We are all affected, not only when exposed to wildfire smoke. We are affected because this world is our world.

Imagine living day in and day out exposed to wildfire smoke. A smoky environment can limit our ability to leave our homes.

Imagine residing in a region ravaged by fires. The terror of watching fires burn all around you, not knowing how soon the fire will travel into your community, can take a toll on your physical and on your mental health.

Imagine witnessing historical sites and places of cultural importance being destroyed by fire.

The destruction of fire is occurring all around us. Our human history is being erased in some places. That is both frightening and heartbreaking.

Health Risks of Wildfires: Physical Risks

Wildfires risk harming us physically.

We need to be informed about some of the potential harms. We need agencies with expertise in tracking wildfires; containing wildfires; preventing wildfires; evacuation of people during wildfires; relocation of people and animals during wildfires; researching causes of wildfires, including researching climate change; providing humanitarian aid during wildfires; and providing emergency services, including health care services and housing management services.

We need all of us with our unique skills to help our communities during wildfires.

We need expertise. We do not need our government to be dismantled by a sociopath with small hands who, like Nero, is watching our country burn, literally and figuratively.

Take Action to Address Wildfires and Wellbeing

Stay connected to reliable news sources and be informed about the wildfires ravaging North America right now.

Maintain your social support network: you may need them or they may need you more than ever if your community is affected by wildfire.

Contact your elected officials at the municipal; state, and federal levels. Ask them about their Emergency Preparedness plans for your community. Tell them to maintain funding to the Centers for Disease Control; National Institutes of Health; National Park Service; USDA Forest Service; Bureau of Indian Affairs; Bureau of Land Management; Federal Emergency Management Agency; National Interagency Fire Center; the Environmental Protection Agency; and all federal agencies which provide services to US in the USA. We still need food assistance, housing support, and health care services when we have to deal with a wildfire in our community.

Call your elected officials in Washington, DC: US Capitol Switchboard 202.224.3121.

Our wellbeing depends on US advocating and fighting for our wellbeing, even in the midst of wildfires. We, US, must never surrender our wellbeing.

We must stand together for our collective wellbeing.

That’s the beauty of democracy.

Be well. Take care. Stand strong.

(Sorry, no musical offering. Imagine the sound of raging wildfires as an accompaniment to this post.)

Disclaimer: This post is not meant to substitute for a consultation with your mental health provider team.

If you are thinking of hurting yourself or of hurting someone else, please CALL 9-1-1; CALL 9-8-8; or GO TO the nearest Emergency Room.

Selected References:

Lepage, C. (August 6, 2025). Calm wildfire season in Quebec can’t keep the smoke away. CBC. Accessed online on August 6, 2025, at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/wildfire-air-quality-montreal-quebec-1.7600965

USEPA (January 30, 2025). Health Effects Attributed to Wildfire Smoke. United States Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed online on August 6, 2025, at https://www.epa.gov/wildfire-smoke-course/health-effects-attributed-wildfire-smoke

Wittenberg, A. (August 1, 2025). Navajo Hotshots take on Grand Canyon fire, 3 fires blazed on Navajo Nation. Navajo-Hopi Observer. Accessed online on August 6, 2025, at https://www.nhonews.com/news/navajo-hotshots-take-on-grand-canyon-fire-as-3-fires-blaze-on-navajo-nation/article_4ac5b9bb-d940-446b-9875-f7372b475662.html