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I welcome Justin DeMoss, current Golden Eagles Hotshot and of Hotshot Wellness.
Justin is a dedicated humanitarian with a passion for improving physical, mental, and spiritual health. His mission is to help individuals achieve a better quality of life through holistic wellness.
He earned a Master’s in Exercise Science from Long Beach State, focusing his thesis and work as a Wellness Instructor for Santa Ana College on firefighter health and wellness. At Sports Academy, he served as a strength and conditioning coach, training competitive athletes and tactical personnel.
Currently, Justin is a Golden Eagles Hotshot, fighting wildfires across the U.S. as a 3rd puller and lead EMT on his crew. Seeking firsthand experience as a first responder, he has gained valuable insights into the challenges of the field.
Hotshot Wellness mission statement:
Our mission is to support the health and well-being of Interagency Hotshot Crews and Wildland Firefighters. By providing personal development opportunities, comprehensive wellness resources, and advocating for mental health, we empower firefighters to excel both on and off the fireline. We strive to cultivate a culture of growth, proactive care, and accessible support, ensuring they have the tools to thrive in every aspect of their lives.
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The last time JJ was on the show, we discussed his study on fire lunches and their effects on the wildland firefighters’ bodies. Since then, he has been working with Hotshot Crews and other fire resources to set them up with the optimal plan to maintain nutrition and health pre, post, and during the fire season.
After high school, JJ served as an infantryman in the Marine Corps for four years. After his enlistment, he was a wildland firefighter in Arizona for three years, including time on the Globe Hotshots. He is now married, and he and his wife, Josi, are dog mushers in Alaska.
He owns a nutrition coaching business, Frontier Performance Nutrition, where he spends most of his time coaching wildland firefighters, military personnel, and backcountry athletes. He believes that in a job where everything is stacked against our health, it’s up to us to optimize the fundamentals to lead long and healthy lives.
JJ's Contact info: IG: @fpncoaching
Email: frontierpn@gmail.com
Website: www.frontierpn.com
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Today, I welcome back Dr. Ludie Bond to discuss the already active Florida Fire season. Conditions across Florida are abnormally dry, and forests are starting to see fire activity they would typically see in March. The recent hurricanes also have impacted fuels, with large swaths of blowdown across Florida counties.
We cover the fires already occurring, the expected increased activity, drought conditions, and prescribed fire programs in Florida. They burn 2 Million acres annually in Florida! I also ask if they expect to have the fire resources necessary to handle the anticipated increased wildfire activity.
Dr. Bond holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations, a Master of Forest Resources and Conservation, and a Doctorate of Forest Resources and Conservation from the University of Florida. She serves as a Type 1 Complex Public Information Officer Section Lead on one of the Florida Forest Service’s Complex Incident Management Teams. She also develops Firewise projects and Countywide Community Wildfire Protection Plans to lower the risks and potential damaging effects of wildfires in communities determined to be at risk.
Dr. Bond has worked as a PIO on CIMTs throughout Florida, the southeast, and as far west as Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Oregon, Texas, and Utah. Dr. Bond has also responded to multiple hurricane recovery deployments throughout Florida, including in the panhandle of Florida for Hurricane Michael and southwest Florida for Hurricane Ian.
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Nearly 7,000 probationary employees were terminated in the last 48 hours across the land management agencies and park service. This included researchers at the Missoula Fire Lab, trails crews, biologists, and others.
The agencies have yet to communicate on the terminations that have occurred and any actions planned in the future. I have spoken with numerous supervisors and others who provided as much information as they had about what they are seeing and hearing inside the agencies and possible further actions. Primary wildfire positions continue to be exempt.
According to sources who understand how the process is proceeding, further actions based on performance evaluations are likely. The decision to lump all probationary employees into this termination action will have downstream effects, and positions critical to wildfire operations, although not primary fire, were removed.
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I have a conversation with Eddie Goldberg, Vice Chairman Of Perimeter Solutions. Perimeter Solutions holds the sole contract with the Forest Service for retardants and has operations around the globe.
We discuss the testing that retardants undergo, their composition, the safety studies that have been conducted, and the company's origins. We also discuss the upcoming wildfire legislation coming through Congress and what it will mean for wildfire resources across the industry.
If you have questions about retardant or the retardant industry, we try to answer those questions.
Eddie is credited with building ICL’s global fire safety business, focusing on products for wildland fire management and municipal and industrial fire suppression. Eddie holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University.
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I cover the proposal for the new National Wildfire Fire Service. This has been discussed for decades, and an effort to finally streamline the wildfire bureaucracy now has bipartisan support. It would consolidate all fire agencies under one umbrella.
The USDA sent out a policy email stating that wildland firefighters are not exempt from the hiring freeze, which is paused until the Office of Personnel Management reviews the positions being offered. This issue needs to be resolved quickly to ensure an appropriate workforce can be in place for the summer fire season. It should be a priority.
Wasteful spending by the Wildfire Agencies is under heavy scrutiny right now. All grants have been paused while they are sorted through. Last night, I looked through some grants and spending; some wild things are in there. This is an area of focus for those working on reducing costs.
One foundation that received $564M from the Forest Service has the acting Chief of the Forest Service on its board of directors. I was assured that this was being looked into.
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Today, I cover all the wild reforms inside the wildfire agencies over the last week, how they happened, and why. It’s been a whirlwind of policy changes, website deletions, and top-level control of all IT and servers across the Departments. I even got a sneak peek at the current number of resignations sent in since mass resignation letters were offered to employees.
Workers are still experiencing a great deal of uncertainty as this unfolds. I discuss the flurry of policy decisions that have been made, why the wildfire agencies are being targeted at the top levels, and how everyone will be affected.
But with all that comes hypocrisy that needs to be called out.
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I cover the President’s visit to the California wildfires, then dive into the Fix Our Forests Act, which passed the House this week and will likely pass the Senate.
Inside this Act is a provision to determine if the Forest Service should be moved to a Western state out of Washington D.C.; they have a 1-year timeline to decide.
The Act also would create the Wildland Fire Management Casualty Assistance Program. This would cover travel and other expenses for a firefighter’s family if they are injured, ill, or deceased due to a line-of-duty incident.
It also creates a system that tracks and provides specialized care for injured firefighters and provides short and long-term support with physical therapy and counselors.
There is a provision to create and study the use of “water bombs”, massive cardboard boxes filled with water that can be used with non-wildfire aircraft such as a V-22 Ospresy and C-130s.
There are also environmental exemptions for fire projects under 10,000 acres, reducing the chance for litigation for fire breaks and prescribed burns.
Plus more.
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I speak with John Gould, one of the most respected voices in the wildfire industry. John’s career spans the wildfire world, including being a longtime Alaska Smokejumper, chair of the Federal Fire and Aviation Safety Team, head of Air Operations for the Bureau of Land Management, manager of the Alaska Fire Service, and CEO of 10 Tanker.
John and I discussed everything related to the wildfire industry, including retardant testing, contract issues, struggles with transparency in working with the Forest Service, and getting a seat at the table as an aviation company.
Changes need to be made to better support our firefighters on the ground and aviation assets in the air, and we discuss how this can be done in the current environment.
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I spoke with Orange County Fire Chief Brian Fennessy about the recent fires in California and the changes needed in the aftermath.
Chief Fennessy is the Chair of the Firescope Advisory Committee, which will meet next week to make recommendations to improve the current system and have a panel discussion on the 2025 California fires. We discuss the issues with the ordering system, aviation resources being off-contract for the Forest Service, the hydrants and reservoirs, politics in fire, and much more.
Interstingly, Forest Supervisors in California opposed the D.C. office's decision to release aviation resources in late December. The move ended up being the right one, even in the face of significant D.C. backlash.
This is one of the most open and honest conversations you will hear from a leader in the fire world in the wake of these fires.
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With the tragedy of the Palisades and Eaton Fires in California over the last week, I sat down with Senator Tim Sheehy to discuss what needs to be done to ensure that this tragedy never happens again and make certain our wildland firefighters are supported.
The Senator and I have discussed these issues for years, and due to these devastating fires, National attention is entirely focused on them.
We discuss fixing firefighter pay, long-term aviation contracts, changes that need to be made to the wildfire system, and how that can now be accomplished in Congress.
Senator Sheehy is the only Red Carded member of Congress as a firefighter and founded the internationally available wildfire aviation company Bridger Aerospace in Montana.
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The ATF has taken over as the lead investigator into the Palisades Fire and has been looking at the fire's origin. The best origin photo I’ve seen shows the fire starting off the Temescal Ridge Trail within the first 20 minutes of ignition.
Investigators are also looking at the potential of a holdover from the Lackman Fire, which started on New Year’s Eve in the same location.
I cover the details of this investigation, one being the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, saying the power to the infrastructure on top of Temescal Ridge has been shut off for 5 years.
I also discuss the cuts the Forest Service is making in Region 5 (California) to critical positions. I had a conversation with a California Forest Supervisor who was concerned these cuts would only make the jobs of firefighters on the ground harder.
Plus, a full update on the fires.
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In the last 24 hours, the LAFD Chief has commented that Los Angeles city officials have let the Department and city residents down. When further pressed, the chief confirmed that one major reservoir was empty due to construction and that her department was not notified before or during the initial attack of the California fires. After making the comments, the Chief was immediately called to the Mayor’s Office, prompting a press release from the LAFD PIO saying she was not being fired.
Crazy.
Also, last night, there were reports that an LAFD official had a resident show them footage of two individuals dumping gas and lighting it on fire near the Palisades fire's origin. During this morning’s briefing, the sheriff’s department asked the public to provide any footage they had of individuals starting the fire. The sheriff said, “We will hold the individual or group of people responsible for this fire.”
That is the furthest they’ve gone regarding the cause of the Palisades Fire since they started. Plus, a complete update of all the fires in the area.
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A lot of progress has been made across the California Fires, Palisades, Hurst, Eaton, and Kenneth. The hard work and labor must now be done by the crews to contain these fires.
Local Residents tackled and made a citizen arrest near the Kenneth Fire of an individual who was starting fires with a blowtorch. Fire Managers say a criminal investigation is now underway.
To prevent looting in the fire areas, a nighttime curfew has been implemented in parts of LA, and the National Guard has been brought in to protect critical infrastructure.
People are now discussing what needs to be done to stop these types of fires from happening again. It’s time to finally take action, make the necessary changes to firefighter pay and benefits, and change the system to be more streamlined and efficient.
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I give an update on the current situation with the southern California fires, the unbelievable level of destruction, and the lives lost. I also discuss the wild theories that have been incorporated into news reporting.
I address the hydrants running out of water, lack of resources, tactics being used, arson, power infrastructure, LAFD funding, and even the wild claims that the destruction is fake… Some of the theories are about as dumb as they come. However, some of the criticisms have merit and should be covered.
Southern California isn’t out of the woods yet, as Red Flag conditions are expected to continue through tomorrow.
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This morning, I give an update on the fires that started and burned through the night in Southern California. Multiple new starts have evacuated nearly 100,000 people, likely destroying hundreds of homes and businesses and tapping wildfire resources in the State.
People are understandably looking to place blame for these fires, but it is still incredibly early in these disaster situations. As of this morning, I cover the details we know and discuss the known issues ignored in Southern California for years that intensify these types of fires.
This will likely be some of the most devastating fires we have seen in Southern California in some time. There are already reports of looting, hydrants running out of water, civilians interfering with fire radio frequencies, and more.
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After three years of attempts, the final Bill of this Congress strips the wildland firefighter permanent pay fix language. The Supplemental Pay is to continue until March 14th.
A reset button has been hit, and many former players won’t be there the next time this is voted on.
Massive changes are coming to the wildfire industry and agencies. Legislation was introduced to allow the president to appoint the Chief of the Forest Service directly. Something not seen in over 35 years. A few names have been mentioned; one is a solid choice.
The Department of Government Effecnacy (DOGE) has a willing partner in Senator Tim Sheehy of Montana. In an OpEd. Senator Sheehy says the bureaucratic red tape is the problem with the wildfire industry, not the boots on the ground.
Senator Sheehy calls for fundamental changes to the wildfire agencies and industry, including a national wildfire suppression standard, and says an overhaul of the bureaucratic system is perfect for DOGE.
Wildfire policy is about to change hands. Wildfire AI systems, Drones, autonomous platforms, detection systems, and private fire contracts will likely see a huge boom.
A healthy rant…
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Today, I welcome Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, who heads the U.S. Fire Administration.
Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell was appointed by President Joseph Biden as the U.S. fire administrator on Oct. 25, 2021. Prior to her appointment, Lori served nearly 3 years as the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Public Safety Data Institute, which she founded after retiring from a 26-year tenure as a senior executive in the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF).
Today, we discuss the autonomous helicopters being developed for wildfire, some of which we may see in California as early as next year, and the new wildfire AI systems being installed for detection. We also discuss the difficulties with the post-fire recovery that took place after the Lahaina Fire in Hawaii.
We dive into the PFAS studies being conducted by the U.S. Fire Administration and other agencies with concerns about firefighter cancer rates at all-time highs. They are working to find new gear and retardants for firefighters that don’t contain these chemicals.
A wide-ranging and fascinating conversation.
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Today, I welcome Scott Gorman, who ran the Dalton Hotshots before making the jump to Orange County to run Santiago Crew 1. Scott started his career in 1995 and was motivated to challenge himself and pursue a wildfire career after finding a mentor in an El Cariso Hotshot who ran his Americorp crew. Through the apprenticeship program, he soon found himself on Dalton Hotshots and worked his way up the ranks, ultimately taking the crew over in 2017.
After a long time with the Fed fire agencies, he made the decision to move to Orange County to run Santiago Crew 1, where he continues his work today. We discuss his career, his decision to leave the Feds, and the ongoing issues we see today that he tried to address with his time on planning committees and as superintendent. He faced the same roadblocks many experience today.
We also discuss what it’s like to take on the role of superintendent, looking out for your people, building a culture, and dealing with the inevitable tragedies that firefighters face along the way.
A very timely and important conversation.
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The President of the Forest Service Council, Andy Vanderheuel, and the Western Region National Business Representative for NFFE, Matt Brossard, join me in discussing the upcoming vote for the permanent wildfire pay legislation.
We discuss the upcoming vote, what’s in the Bill, and what wildland firefighters can expect regarding actual wages earned.
We cover the upcoming administration and what that looks like.
They discuss possible early retirements could be coming.
We cover Hazard Pay for Prescribed burns and where that stands, plus other initiatives that are lined up.
Also, CAL FIRE and local police arrested two arson suspects in 48 hours who are responsible for 10+ wildfires.
Red Flags and Santa Ana winds are returning to Southern California later this week.
Plus more.
THE HOTSHOT WAKE UP — Thank you to all of our paid subscribers. Your support allows us to donate generously to firefighter charities and supports all of our content. You also receive all of our article archives, more podcast episodes, Monday morning workouts, and also entered into our giveaways, plus more.