Source: Robert Gauthier / Getty
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.–The recovery effort from the wildfires in Hawaii is one that’s going to take a long time.
“When wildfires enter communities like they did in Maui, they destroy buildings, vehicles, boats, and other infrastructure materials that release all sorts of toxic chemicals into the air and into the soil,” said Andrew Whelton. He is a Professor of Civil, Environmental, and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University.
Whelton has traveled numerous times to the sites of wildfires, where he and his students collect water samples to help guide a community on the best way to restore its water systems.
“The debris removal is going to take months. Once the search and rescue operations are finished, then the debris is something that the agencies involved are going to start dealing with,” said Whelton.
Throughout his studies, Whelton says he’s discovered that it can take months for a city or town’s water to be safe to drink again after a wildfire. That’s something he says Hoosiers need to keep in mind in case a wildfire happens in Indiana.
“The faster we can decontaminate water systems, the faster communities can recover economically,” said Whelton.
The harsh truth about a wildfire is that if it destroys the place where you live, then your forced to move on quickly.
“What victims of these wildfires have to focus on now is stabilizing themselves and their family so they can go on with their lives and try to resume some sense of normalcy,” said Whelton.
Whelton’s wildfire trips began in 2018, when he visited California three times to respond to the Camp Fire, which was the most destructive wildfire in the state’s history. Just the year before, he had also provided guidance from afar to groups dealing with water contamination from California’s Tubbs Fire.
