An evaluation of the Eeyou Istchee Daily Smoke Monitoring Report

Abstract

Background: In 2023, Eeyou Istchee experienced a record-breaking forest fire season, causing unprecedented damage to interconnected land, ecosystems, and cultural infrastructure. Acute health impacts of forest fires can be severe, including respiratory and cardiovascular problems, and heat-related illness. From May 2023 to September 2023, the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay (CBHSSJB) shared verbal updates on smoke, fire, and heat at daily meetings with public health and broader emergency response partners. In 2024, CBHSSJB formalized these verbal updates into a daily written report, distributing publicly available information via email to inform a timely public health response.

Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of the Eeyou Istchee Daily Smoke Monitoring Report (shortened to the “Report”) following the first season of implementation and identify potential improvements.

Methods: The evaluation was co-developed with key partners using participatory approaches, with evaluation objectives focusing on the Report’s usefulness for decision-making with respect to smoke, fire, and heat. Key informant interviews (n=6) were carried out with Report recipients, and results were summarized using thematic analysis.

Results: Recipients described the Report as useful and a source of reassurance about current conditions in Eeyou Istchee. Suggested improvements included the addition of more visuals, plainer language, and supporting recipients seeking additional information to complement the Report (i.e., more specific than daily updates at a regional level).

Conclusion: Opportunities for improvement identified through this evaluation informed updates to the Report for 2025 and beyond, and may also be applied by other Indigenous organizations developing or enhancing their own environmental monitoring and reporting processes.

Introduction

“Since time immemorial, forest fires have always been present in Eeyou Eenou Istchee and across Canada, shaping forests and ecosystems. Our ancestors understood fire as a natural force, one that could both renew and destroy, and they learned how to live with it.”—Reggie Tomatuk, Planning Programming and Research Officer, Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay Regional Public Health

Severe forest fires have occurred in recent years in Canada and globally ^{Footnote 1Footnote 2Footnote 3Footnote 4Footnote 5}. Despite longstanding Indigenous knowledge, understanding and practices for how to live with fire, recent wildfires have had disproportionate impacts on Indigenous populations for reasons including remote geography and limited firefighting resources ^{Footnote 6Footnote 7Footnote 8Footnote 9}. These impacts are expected to intensify as climate change increases the frequency and severity of wildfires ^{Footnote 10Footnote 11Footnote 12Footnote 13Footnote 14}.

Unprecedented forest fires in 2023 burned 11% of Eeyou Istchee ^{Footnote 5Footnote 11Footnote 15}, which is an area of over 400,000 km² located along the east coast of James Bay and inland and home to approximately 20,000 Eeyouch/Eenouch (Cree). Eight of the nine Cree First Nation communities served by the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay (CBHSSJB) were evacuated due to fire between June 2023 and August 2023, resulting in negative physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual impacts on Eeyouch/Eenouch. Fires and smoke led to intermittent road closures, impacting the movement of people, supplies, and food in and out of communities. Changes to land had both immediate and long-term impacts on territory, wildlife, and plants crucial for hunting, fishing, and other ways of connecting with Cree culture ^{Footnote 9Footnote 11}.

In Canada, wildfire smoke reporting and risk communication are primarily implemented through centralized tools, such as the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), which translate ambient PM2.5 and co-pollutant measurements into standardized public health guidance. The AQHI may have limited sensitivity to wildfire smoke—specific exposure patterns and local variability during extreme fire events ^{Footnote 16Footnote 17}. This approach is less accessible and contextually appropriate in Indigenous communities, where structural inequities, language differences, and limited integration of Indigenous governance and knowledge systems may reduce the effectiveness of risk communication and protective actions ^{Footnote 18}. Cree emergency response teams need to make quick, informed decisions about use of remote transportation routes to ensure continuity of community food supplies, use of traplines, and preparation for evacuations of medically vulnerable individuals. Public health response includes liaison roles, coordination of clean air spaces and sheltering in place resources, distribution of N95 masks outside of clinic settings, public health messaging, and surge capacity. During the 2023 fires, the CBHSSJB regional Environmental Health Team was requested to provide daily regional information on smoke, fire, and heat to partners to inform such actions. With no pre-existing surveillance product, team experts reviewed the fragmented data available and used this to provide verbal updates of relevant information.

In 2024, a structured daily report was developed to monitor fire activity, forecast smoke movement across the territory, track air quality measures, and predict maximum heat (Eeyou Istchee Daily Smoke Monitoring Report, shortened to the “Report”) (Appendix, Supplemental material, Figure S1–S2 and Table S1) to improve the delivery and use of this surveillance service. The Report was evaluated for its usefulness in supporting public health action following the first season of implementation. This evaluation directly responds to an expressed need for enhanced environmental monitoring, coordination, and communication during emergencies in Eeyou Istchee ^{Footnote 12Footnote 19}.

With a significant proportion of the population in Eeyou Istchee being particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of smoke, fire, and heat, monitoring with timely communication and coordination between adaptive response partners is crucial for managing a rapid response to the complex needs arising from these increasingly severe events.

Methods

Evaluation planning

In keeping with the Miyupimaatisiiun Research Principles of collaborative planning, execution and interpretation, as well as previous work on evaluation in Indigenous contexts ^{Footnote 20Footnote 21Footnote 22}, this evaluation was co-developed with 2024 Report producers and recipients (Table 1).

Discussion groups identified key questions that were used to develop evaluation objectives. Questions and objectives were mapped to United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Updated Guidelines for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems attributes reflecting usefulness and data quality ^{Footnote 23} (Table 2). Usefulness is the degree to which the Report “contributes to the prevention and control of adverse health-related events” related to smoke and wildfires, “including an improved understanding of the public health implications of such events.” Data quality “reflects the completeness and validity” of the information contained in the report. While a broader internal evaluation of the Report also employed a survey, a review of social media messaging, and a comparison of reported and recorded temperatures, this article focuses solely on the assessment of usefulness through qualitative methods.

Key informant interviews

In the summer of 2025, six semi-structured interviews (45–60 minutes each) were conducted with 2024 Report recipients. Invitations for key informant interviews were extended via email, focusing on organizations and communities that responded to heavy smoke or fire in 2024 (the first season of Report implementation). A convenience sample was made of all willing participants. A conversation guide was co-developed with producers and recipients based on the key questions (Appendix, Supplemental material, List S1) and walked through example reports from both 2024 and 2025 (Appendix, Supplemental material, Figure S1–S2). Interviews were conducted via Microsoft Teams, including transcription and recording with prior consent. Transcripts were reviewed by a co-author and shared with key informants for validation.

Thematic analysis

Thematic analysis was conducted in Microsoft Excel using a priori and emergent themes (Table 3). These were structured into content themes and action themes. The analysis followed a structured, iterative process involving initial familiarization with the data, systematic coding of themes, identification of emergent themes, and refinement to enhance transparency and analytic rigour. A member of the CBHSSJB Public Health Department served as a second reviewer, coding two anonymized interview transcripts and discussing findings with a co-author to ensure coherence.

Ethical considerations

Public health surveillance evaluation falls outside the CBHSSJB definition of research ^{Footnote 21}. However, in keeping with Miyupimaatisiiun Research Principles ^{Footnote 20} and First Nations Principles of ownership, control, access, and possession (OCAP®) ^{Footnote 24}, the evaluation protocol was discussed with the CBHSSJB Research Office during planning, and the manuscript was reviewed by the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) of the CBHSSJB. Key informants were assured of confidentiality, informed about the evaluation objectives and methods advised how their information would be used, and provided verbal or written consent before participation.

Results

Key informant interviews

Interviewees were employees of CBHSSJB (Miyupimâtisîun [n=2], Emergency Measures [n=1], Public Health [n=2]) and the Cree Nation Government Office of Fire Protection (n=1). This represented four of five groups who received the Report in 2024 (i.e., before the distribution list was expanded in 2025).

Theme: Actions informed by the report

The Report objectives are: 1) to monitor fire, smoke, air quality, and temperature conditions in Eeyou Istchee to support a rapid public health response, and 2) to determine when criteria are met for activation and de-activation of an Activated Public Health Incident Management System (IMS) structure.

Actions potentially informed by the Report varied according to the roles of recipients and the severity of the situation (Table 4).

Additional results of the thematic analysis are summarized according to key questions in Table 5, and by theme in Table 6.

Report priorities identified by recipients

Air quality was mentioned as a priority in five interviews, followed by temperature and recommendations for public health action (three each).

Theme: Format and frequency

All key informants praised the visual elements of the Report (i.e., maps) for being quick to read and easy to share. The Report often refers to specific communities, which recipients appreciated being able to quickly scan for their own community, or communities where they or their colleagues have loved ones. However, this format creates an information gap for health risks to Eeyouch/Eenouch on the land or highways (i.e., outside of communities). Sending the Report by email in the morning made it easy to check at the beginning of the workday, easy to search for later, and saved time by eliminating the need to seek information elsewhere.

While recipients appreciated daily reporting, a scaled-back Report on days when air quality and temperature are below thresholds of concern would also fulfill this need. One recipient suggested sending out only the first page of the 2025 Report on such days (i.e., a map of current air quality and a brief summary of anticipated air quality and temperature).

Twice-daily reporting was appreciated when recommendations were particularly time-sensitive (e.g., closing windows during the day or overnight) or anticipated to change throughout the day. Recipients noted the importance of having information readily available for emergency response meetings.

Theme: Air quality and temperature content

Both air quality and temperature were noted as priority topics within the Report as this information was used to respond to health risks from smoke and heat. When communities are under threat of evacuation, the smoke forecast was described as “critical” in determining appropriate sites to receive evacuees. One interviewee described an experience from 2023 (prior to the written Report):

“For [COMMUNITY A], there was a second evacuation. And we evacuated to the sister community next door, which is [COMMUNITY B], and that really helped making those decisions. I was kind of worried that the community we had chosen at first, but then once we had this report, [COMMUNITY B] only had that smoke for maybe an hour, and then the wind shifted and they were OK for about two or three days.”

Temperature information informed decision-making around potential health hazards and fire behavior:

“If we had an emergency and if the temperature is kind of humid and cold, the fire slows down. So, it gives you those hours to work on something.”

Theme: Wind and visibility content

Wind and visibility information were useful when they impacted existing smoke and fire(s) and informed evacuation and travel decisions during emergencies:

“If there's no visibility, you can't get people out.”

“We had a window of maybe three or four hours to the wind was going to shift so the highway would be accessible to go home. And we had to plan a convoy to go up with the 18-wheelers so they can bring in food, gas and also bring in the people that went to a, to a hockey tournament. There was […] people stuck in [COMMUNITY] that wanted to go home.”

Theme: Report recommendations content

Report recommendations informed conversations with colleagues and community partners, and guided recipients’ participation in emergency response meetings:

“People always want a written recommendation.”

“[At] local emergency team meetings, that's the first thing they ask: What are the recommendations from Cree Health Board?”

Recommendations tailored to specific audiences (e.g., daycares, work places, event planners) were also appreciated, with daycares in particular as a key audience since closures can have widespread impacts in a community. Recipients also suggested tailoring recommendation to reflect the realities of buildings or infrastructure in Eeyou Istchee (e.g., preventing smoke from entering gaps in windows or doors), and incorporating or acknowledging Cree traditional knowledge:

“Traditionally they would just use a cloth, and they would wet it with water, and it would be the filter for smoke. Again, I guess it comes back to traditional ways of doing things that were also comforting and reassuring."

Emergent theme: Reporting as reassurance

Information on smoke and forest fires from the Report was a source of reassurance for recipients regarding their own community and neighboring communities where they, their colleagues, or patients may have loved ones:

“When there's fires within our region, whether they be in [COMMUNITY] or…. We have a lot of the community, there's family there, you know, so they do, they do worry. And so, to ease their worry, I call a meeting… So, I just update them where so they can concentrate on work where they don't have to think about, OK, my family over there, I wonder how they're doing.”

Emergent theme: Jurisdictions and coordination

Recipients emphasized the importance of clear roles and responsibilities in emergency situations, and a desire for clarity around who would be responsible for carrying out the recommendations provided in the Report (e.g., communicating with partners and the public, blocking gaps in windows or doors, or making changes to ventilation systems).

Emergent theme: Learning and preparedness

Recipients reflected on how past forest fire experiences had been a source of learning, and how that learning could be applied to future forest fire seasons:

“When [COMMUNITY A] evacuated to [COMMUNITY B]. That's how we found out that that happens. When they got to the, to the gyms, there was smoke coming in and that smoke, it kind of followed them from [COMMUNITY A], you know? And there was smoke coming in, so they had to block their ventilation system at those schools. And that's when we said, hey, this could happen to us too, back home like, so we prepared for that.”

Discussion

Report recipients expressed appreciation for “useful” and “critical” information specific to Eeyou Istchee delivered to them directly, and a desire for more visual elements and plain language. Future reporting seasons might therefore prioritize a shorter report with more visual elements (i.e., maps or infographics) or issuing a scaled-back report on days below thresholds of concern.

Smoke, air quality, and heat were identified as priority topics for informing public health response, while wind and visibility were useful in the context of impacts on existing fire(s) or smoke. When wind and visibility informed decision-making (i.e., evacuations, transportation convoys), these decisions required specificity beyond the scope of a daily Report at a regional level. To address this gap, one approach suggested by the evaluation team was to support recipients in seeking this information from trusted sources by continuing to include web links in the Report, holding training sessions, or developing guidance documents. Training sessions or tabletop exercises could also be used to address other emergent themes (i.e., the importance of jurisdictions and coordination in emergency response, applying learnings from past fires to future fires).

The Report was a source of reassurance among recipients with respect to their own and neighbouring communities, consistent with a lack of information being documented as a source of distress among First Nations people experiencing forest fires elsewhere in Canada ^{Footnote 25}. This expressed usefulness of the Report echoes the call for tailored communication and coordination strategies from trusted sources in the context of prolonged smoke and forest fire seasons ^{Footnote 18Footnote 26Footnote 27}.

This evaluation noted a number of challenges that are shared among jurisdictions in Canada, namely clarification of roles and responsibilities, and the need for specific public health guidance when smoke and heat occur simultaneously ^{Footnote 28}. In Canada, wildfire and heat health responses rely on centralized tools (e.g., AQHI and heat warnings) that emphasize standardization but may have limited local relevance and uptake ^{Footnote 16Footnote 17}. In contrast, this intervention (i.e. the Report) aligns with evidence from Indigenous and community‑based emergency responses showing that culturally grounded, locally governed risk communication enhances trust, comprehension, and protective action during wildfire smoke, heat events, and other public health emergencies ^{Footnote 18}. Other challenges, such as summarizing and responding to conditions over a vast geographic area, are shared by Indigenous, rural, and remote jurisdictions ^{Footnote 28Footnote 29Footnote 30}.

While interviews focused on 2024 Report recipients, the distribution list expanded significantly in 2025, and additional recipients for 2026 and beyond (e.g., Elders’ homes) were identified during this article’s development. New recipients in 2025 were not included in key informant interviews, underscoring the importance of continuous evaluation and improvement.

Limitations

This evaluation relied primarily on qualitative thematic analyses based on a small, purposive sample of key informants (n=6). Convenience sampling could introduce potential selection bias and incomplete capture of organizational perspectives, which constrains transferability. Analyses of public communications and temperature data were descriptive, temporally bounded, and selective in scope, which limits generalizability. Engagement metrics and forecast observation comparisons reflect proxy measures of reach and exposure and do not assess behavioural impact or other report components (e.g., air quality), representing additional sources of measurement bias.

Conclusion

The Eeyou Istchee Daily Smoke Monitoring Report was considered useful and was a source of reassurance for recipients. Opportunities for improvement identified through this evaluation may also be relevant to other Indigenous organizations developing or enhancing their own environmental monitoring processes. These include the incorporation of additional visual elements, the use of plainer language, a streamlined report when conditions remain below thresholds of concern, and measures to help recipients access additional trusted information when needed for decision-making. Overall, the Report is a new health protection tool that complements the understanding Eeyouch/Eenouch have always had about living with fire as a natural force.

Authors' statement

AM — Conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, project administration, writing–original draft
JC — Conceptualization, methodology, validation, writing–review & editing
ID — Conceptualization, methodology, resources, supervision, writing–review & editing
CF — Conceptualization, methodology, resources, supervision, writing–review & editing
JO — Conceptualization, methodology, validation, writing–review & editing

Environmental Health Team — Conceptualization, methodology, resources, validation, writing–review & editing

Contributors

During the evaluation period (November 2024–September 2025), the Regional Environmental Health Team at the Public Health Department of the CBHSSJB included (in alphabetical order): Emmanuelle Beauvais-Lacasse, Dr. Max Boulet, Maya Côté, Justine Daoust-Lalande, Dr. Catherine Dickson, Dr. Tavis Hayes, Imi Khailat, Paul Meillon, Haylee Petawabano, and Reggie Tomatuk. Each member of the team contributed to the planning of this evaluation through group discussion, or to the planning, preparation, or distribution of the Eeyou Istchee Daily Smoke Report. Additionally, Dr. Catherine Dickson reviewed the full evaluation report, which formed the basis for this article.

Competing interests

The authors note no competing interests.

ORCID numbers

Anna JW Manore — 0000-0002-3377-1608

Acknowledgements

We thank Nanor Rita Hamamdjian (Monitoring and Evaluation Team, Public Health Department, CBHSSJB), who served as second reviewer for transcripts of key informant interviews. We also thank the CBHSSJB Research Office and Research Advisory Committee (RAC) for their thoughtful review and comments on this manuscript. Thank you to the recipients of the Eeyou Istchee Daily Smoke Monitoring Report who shared their time, stories, and expertise.

Funding

This work was supported by the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Appendix

The Daily Smoke Monitoring Report included information on air quality, smoke forecasts, fire activity, health recommendations, temperature, wind and visibility. A detailed description of data elements, sources and rationale is available in the supplementary materials hosted on Open Science Framework (OSF). https://osf.io/nxewh/overview?view_only=cd44372ccee6452cb0d81d0938ed8b2a

Figure S1: Example of daily smoke monitoring report (2024)

Figure S2: Example of daily smoke monitoring report (2025)

Table S1: Data elements of the Eeyou Istchee Daily Smoke Monitoring Report

List S1: Conversation guide

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