The wildfires broke out on the Hawaiian island of Maui in August 2023, sparked when wind spread a brushfire ignited by downed power lines. Researchers found that metal mixtures left behind in smoke, ash and debris kept affecting residents' lungs. The effects lasted well past when the flames were extinguished.
The findings point to a problem beyond the fire itself. Researchers say post-wildfire air quality needs monitoring for longer stretches of time, and cleanup and recovery work has to account for what lingers in contaminated soot, residue and dirt long after the burning stops. Exposure kept happening through what settled into the ground and debris around homes.
Researchers also connect the findings to a bigger pattern, warning that major wildfires are getting worse as the planet warms, which could mean more communities facing this kind of delayed, lingering harm. Two years after the fire went out, scientists are still finding its traces in the bodies of the people who lived through it.