VigiLife has executed a contract with the U.S. Department of the Interior to expand the occupational exposure data collection involving wildland firefighters and continue evaluating how SafeGuard® can align with the technical, operational, privacy, and security requirements of a centralized exposure-monitoring capability.
Why Wildland Firefighter Exposure Monitoring Matters
The work begins during the demanding 2026 wildfire season. By July 31, national wildfire activity had exceeded the 10-year averages for both the number of fires and acres burned, reinforcing the need for practical tools that help agencies understand and reduce the occupational exposures experienced by wildland firefighters. The effort supports a broader federal commitment to better understand and reduce the occupational hazards faced by wildland firefighters.
Federal Support for Wildland Firefighter Health
Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Congress directed the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture to develop and follow mitigation recommendations that minimize wildland firefighters’ exposure to line-of-duty environmental hazards. Congress subsequently strengthened the federal occupational-health framework through the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2022, which recognizes specified occupational disease risks among eligible federal firefighters and directed a comprehensive study of the long-term health effects associated with exposure to fires, smoke, and toxic fumes.
These requirements complement the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer, a nationwide effort led by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to improve understanding of the relationship between firefighting activities, occupational exposures, and cancer risk over time.
How SafeGuard Supports Field Data Collection
Under the contract, VigiLife will provide a structured SafeGuard research deployment supporting field personnel, data-collection staff, and program administrators. The platform will support continuous collection of physiological and environmental information from compatible wearable, personal exposure, and environmental sensors.
Depending on the goals of each field activity, measured information may include physiological strain, estimated core body temperature, physical activity, heat and microclimate conditions, particulate matter, air-quality indicators, and other supported exposure measures. SafeGuard will provide program administrators with more timely access to uploaded information and structured data exports for quality review, downstream analysis, and reporting.
“Wildland firefighters experience heat, smoke, physical strain, and other environmental hazards together, but the information needed to understand those exposures often remain separated across different devices and systems. This engagement allows us to support more consistent field data collection, improve access to information from multiple sensor categories, and better understand the operational and security requirements of a durable exposure-monitoring capability.”
– Jeremy Ward, Vice President of Products and Partnerships, VigiLife
Connecting Wearable and Environmental Sensor Data
SafeGuard is VigiLife’s sensor-agnostic connected-workforce platform. For this deployment, SafeGuard will support wildland firefighter exposure monitoring through a configurable combination of wearable and environmental technologies, including sensors from Garmin, Trolex, Atmotube, and Kestrel. The platform brings information from these different sensor categories into a common mobile and cloud-based environment, supporting field collection, data review, and analysis across remote and frequently connectivity-limited operations.
Building on Earlier Field Research
The contract builds upon an earlier wildland-fire feasibility assessment in which SafeGuard demonstrated the ability to collect information from multiple physiological and environmental sensor categories during field operations. The new engagement advances that work through a longer, more structured research deployment, improved access to collected information, ongoing field support, and formal alignment with DOI security requirements.
VigiLife is proud to continue supporting wildland firefighter exposure monitoring for the Department of the Interior.
About VigiLife
VigiLife develops connected-workforce technologies that help organizations better understand and respond to physiological, environmental, and occupational risks. Its SafeGuard® platform integrates information from wearable and environmental sensors to support worker safety, operational awareness, research, and long-term exposure insights.