Visionary Patric Douglas, founder of FireSwarm Solutions, outlines his plan to revolutionize aerial firefighting by adopting a "Fire-as-a-Service" model built on ultra-efficient, gas turbine drones. Drawing on his background as a tech entrepreneur and his experience with devastating B.C. fires, he details the three major bottlenecks facing the industry and advocates for a massive investment in rapid logistics and high-performance, next-generation suppressants.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• The Formula 1 Model: Why drone logistics must achieve 15-second turnaround times to be effective.

• The Turbine Advantage: Why the physics of heat and altitude currently favor gas turbines over electric batteries for heavy-lift aerial attack.

• The Three Bottlenecks: Identifying the major constraints in the industry: power, suppressants, and adoption.

• Next-Gen Suppression: The need for standardized, powerful powder additives that can be mixed with water anywhere in the world.

• FSAS (Fire-as-a-Service): How private investment in drone fleets can fill the void left by inadequate state resources, especially for private timberlands.

• From Shark Tags to Fire Tech: Patric's fascinating career journey from the Discovery Channel and helicopter companies to the current tech boom.

• The Lasting Impact: Why the economic incentive for rapid, decisive fire suppression must replace the current system's slow, costly approach.

Retired firefighter Keith McMillan shares his raw, powerful journey of leaving a 26-year career due to physical injuries, only to discover his deepest wounds were from PTSI (Post-Traumatic Stress Injury). Now a Wildfire Mitigation Specialist for his own HOA, he details his new mission: protecting his community, educating homeowners with a firefighter's triage perspective, and championing the life-saving importance of "crew checks" and mental health vulnerability.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• A New Model for HOAs: How a private community hired a full-time wildfire expert to manage its 5,000 acres of open space.

• Triage for Your Home: How Keith uses a fire captain's triage criteria to show homeowners their real-world risk.

• The "Crew Check": A vital, non-negotiable check-in for first responders to share their emotional load before a shift begins.

• A Personal PTSI Journey: Keith's moving story of how COVID-driven isolation forced him to confront years of suppressed trauma.

• Life After Fire: How he found a new, fulfilling niche as a part-time park ranger and mitigation specialist.

• From Woe to Go: The importance of proactive evacuation planning, from safe zones to using your car's "biohazard mode."

FYREBX founder Sean Henry tells the incredible story of how getting bored in retirement led him to invent a revolutionary piece of firefighting hardware in his barn. Discover the FYREBX, a multi-tool attachment that turns any compact track loader into a dozer, a 500-gallon water cannon, and a hydro-seeder, and learn how his grassroots strategy of letting firefighters discover its value on their own terms is driving its rapid adoption.

https://fyrebx.com/

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• The FYREBX Innovation: How this patented attachment combines a dozer blade and water tank for incredible stability and effectiveness.

• The "Street Cred" Strategy: Why Sean sold to loggers first, letting CAL FIRE and other agencies discover the product organically.

• Real-World Success: Stories from the field where the FYREBX did the work of multiple engines and saved a dozen homes.

• Feedback-Driven Design: How a suggestion from a CAL FIRE veteran led to the "Hyder Pump," an innovation for rapid refilling.

• The Machine as the Monitor: Why a nimble track loader can be more efficient with water than a traditional engine with long hose lays.

• The Future is Remote: How FYREBX is partnering with tech companies to create remotely operated and even autonomous firefighting machines.

• From Pools to Pulaskis: How Sean's background as a high-end designer and artist informed his engineering process.

LA County Fire Captain Ed Monroe shares his candid, powerful insight into PTSI (Post-Traumatic Stress Injury), emphasizing why mental health must be treated as a physical injury and why help must be sought proactively. Drawing on 17 years of service, he discusses the critical role of peer support, the shock of a firefighter being shot, and the unique challenges and rewards of leading wildland inmate crews.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• PTSI vs. PTSD: Why "Injury" is a more accurate and helpful term than "Disorder."

• The Inmate Crew Program: How this initiative gave men a mission and a path to turning their lives around.

• Peer Support is Essential: Why first responders trust those within their circle and how LA County Fire is utilizing peer mentorship.

• The Warrior's Code: Why the reluctance to ask for help is a dangerous mindset that must be overcome.

• The Retirement Cliff: Why veterans and former first responders are most at risk after losing their daily peer support network.

• The External Threat: The chilling reality of firefighters being targeted while responding to incidents.

• The Fire Culture Shift: Why it's now safer and easier than ever to seek care without career reprisal.

Nova founder and former wildland firefighter Robert Atwood explains how his company is using machine learning to automate the detection of hotspots, turning a complex, multi-hour process into a simple, 10-minute task. Discover how this innovative platform transforms a drone's infrared imagery into a precise "treasure map" for ground crews, integrates seamlessly with the tools firefighters already use, and is changing the standard for declaring a fire "out."

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• The Genesis of Nova: How the frustration of manually processing drone data on the fireline led to a machine learning breakthrough.

• From "Red Line" to "Treasure Map": The critical shift from a simple perimeter map to a detailed map of every heat source.

• The Power of AI: How an ML model trained on 7 million hotspots can find fist-sized heat signatures from 1600 feet in the air.

• A Firefighter-First Workflow: The simple process of uploading drone photos and getting an actionable, geo-referenced PDF map in minutes.

• The "Year of the Integration": How Nova is connecting with the tools firefighters already love, like Avenza Maps and ATAC.

• A New Standard: Why agencies like the Los Angeles Fire Department are now using Nova to scan every brush fire before calling it out.

• The "Three-Legged Stool": Why a drone program is incomplete without a way to turn its data into a valuable product.

Sustainability entrepreneur Josh Dorfman, founder of the media platform Supercool, shares his mission to uncover "real-world climate solutions" that cut carbon while boosting profits and improving modern life. Drawing on his experience launching a carbon-negative building materials company with SpaceX engineers, he reveals the secrets to successful climate-tech startups and the "win-win" innovations that are already changing the world.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• The "Supercool" Philosophy: Why solving climate change doesn't require sacrifice and can actually make life better.

• Planted: The incredible story of creating a carbon-negative building material from a fast-growing grass and landing a 100-million-panel order.

• Win-Win Solutions: How companies are using AI to electrify school buses (Zūm) and eliminate food waste (Wasteless).

• The Circular Economy: A look at "urban mining" for rare earth magnets (Cyclic Materials) and creating a used market for e-bikes (Upway).

• The Art of the Pitch: A masterclass in fundraising, selling your vision, and knowing when to "stop talking."

• The SpaceX Mindset: What it's like working with ex-SpaceX engineers to solve massive problems.

• The Future of Building: A discussion on moving away from flammable materials and the potential of modular homes like Boxabl.

IBHS Senior Director for Wildfire and 30-year CAL FIRE veteran Steve Hawks explains the hard science behind why homes burn and what you can actually do about it. Go inside the IBHS research lab where they create 135-mph ember storms to test full-size houses, and learn why a "systems-based approach"—not just one or two actions—is the only way to protect your home from a high-intensity wildfire.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• The IBHS Mission: How the insurance industry's nonprofit research lab is working to reduce property loss.

• A Systems-Based Approach: Why you can't just clear brush; you must combine defensible space with home hardening.

• The Critical "Zone Zero": The science proving why the first five feet around your home must be non-combustible.

• Structure-to-Structure Spread: How IBHS research is revealing the ways fire jumps from home to home via fences, sheds, and radiant heat.

• Inside the Lab: A look at the full-scale test chamber where they subject houses to hurricane-force winds and ember storms.

• From Paradise to Prevention: How the guest's personal connection to the Camp Fire drives his passion for this work.

• The Retrofit Challenge: Why retrofitting existing homes is the biggest hurdle we face in community protection.

Fire Swarm Solutions founder David Thanh explains how his company is pioneering the use of ultra-heavy-lift drone swarms to attack wildfires, especially during the critical nighttime hours when traditional aircraft are grounded. Inspired by a devastating personal loss in a British Columbia fire, he and his team are developing a new tool for the toolbox that promises more precise, persistent, and safer aerial support for ground crews.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• The Genesis of Fire Swarm: How a catastrophic fire with a fire tornado sparked a radical new idea.

• The Thunder Wasp: A look at the ultra-heavy-lift drone capable of carrying a 72-gallon water bucket.

• The Power of the Swarm: How a group of drones can deliver a continuous flow of water with more precision than a helicopter.

• The Nighttime Advantage: Why operating at night, when fire behavior is often subdued, is a game-changer.

• A New Paradigm: The need to change how we fight fire, not just throw more of the same resources at the problem.

• Human-in-the-Loop: The "crawl, walk, fly" approach to integrating machine learning with the expertise of an Air Attack Officer.

• Overcoming Resistance: The challenges of introducing new, unproven technology into the tradition-bound world of firefighting.

Microsoft's Chris Holloway brings his unique perspective as a former Air Force nuclear weapons specialist to the wildfire crisis, delivering a powerful call for proactive, community-level action. He breaks down why high-tech home suppression systems can fail, why we're too focused on reactive data instead of proactive work, and why the most effective wildfire defense starts with simple, low-tech stewardship of your own property.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• A Nuke Specialist's View on Wildfire: Applying a mindset of constant readiness to community fire defense.

• The WUI is Underperforming: Why most communities are failing at managing their wildland-urban interface.

• The Flaw in Home Suppression Systems: The danger of relying on battery backups during Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS).

• Chasing the Last Disaster: Why using historical data to predict future fires is a flawed strategy.

• The Power of Low-Tech: Why simple actions like adding mesh to your fence and clearing brush are more effective than waiting for a high-tech solution.

• The Landscaper Problem: How aesthetic choices in landscaping can create dangerous fuel loads right next to homes.

• Forcing Functions: The potential role of insurance companies and HOAs in compelling homeowners to mitigate their risk.

Water quality expert Cydian Kauffman explains what happens to the toxic runoff from wildfires and structure fires and how those contaminants find their way into our drinking water. Learn the crucial difference between the legal and health standards for municipal water, why your body may be the filter for dangerous chemicals, and the best ways to protect yourself from everything from heavy metals to the little-known class of chemicals known as PFAS.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• The Hydrologic Cycle of Fire: How contaminated runoff ends up in our reservoirs and aquifers.

• Legal vs. Health Standards: The shocking truth about why your municipal water may be as dirty as it's legally allowed to be.

• The Problem with PFAS: Why the true danger of these "forever chemicals" is still unknown and what you can do about them.

• Testing Don't Guess: Why testing your water is the first step to finding a customized home filtration solution.

• RO, Carbon & UV: A deep dive into the pros and cons of different filtration technologies.

• Water Safety for Firefighters: The unique dangers first responders face from drinking and being exposed to untested water sources on the job.

• Smoldering Science: A discussion on why smoldering fires are often the biggest and most destructive fires on Earth, even without a flame.

Adam specializes in comprehensive all-hazards preparedness, planning, response, mitigation, and risk management. His expertise extends to severe weather and climate change risk, the strategic use of GIS in emergency management, urban search and rescue, and homeland security. He has a strong focus on climate change, black sky consequence management, CBRNE planning, bio and agroterrorism, viral hemorrhagic fevers, maximum containment laboratory emergencies, and disruptions to electric transmission and distribution utilities.

UC Cooperative Extension fire ecologist Barb Satink Wolfson provides a masterclass in the science and culture of "good fire," explaining why we need to empower more people to use it and how community events can build trust and acceptance. Discover the ecological impacts of high-severity re-burns, the critical importance of social science in wildfire preparedness, and why the future of safety lies in entire communities taking collective responsibility.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• The Problem with "Acres Destroyed": Why this common media metric is misleading and what we should focus on instead.

• High-Severity Re-burns: The ecological danger of fires re-burning areas too frequently.

• Putting Fire in More Hands: The importance of state-level "Burn Boss" certifications and liability protection for private landowners.

• The "Good Fire Fair": How to create fun, engaging community events that teach the benefits of prescribed fire.

• Cultural Burning: The history and significance of Indigenous burning practices.

• The Power of Social Science: Why understanding community perception is as important as understanding fire behavior.

• Collective Responsibility: Why house-by-house mitigation isn't enough and entire neighborhoods must work together.

• Learning from Europe: A look at how different building materials and firefighting tactics shape the WUI problem overseas.

Deputy Fire Chief Matthew Wilson of Eielson Air Force Base shares his unique perspective from the far north, detailing the lessons learned from recent F-35 and F-16 aircraft mishaps and the challenges of leading a military fire department with a high turnover rate. Discover his leadership philosophy of subordinating ego and listening to your team, why resilience is a quality you build by doing "hard things," and how he's helping to foster a new culture of mental health.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• Life in the Extreme Arctic: The unique challenges of firefighting in Alaska's extreme cold and the constant daylight of summer.

• Mishap Response: A firsthand account of responding to a real-world F-35 crash and the difference between training and reality.

• The "Wilson" Leadership Philosophy: Why subordinating your ego, listening, and asking open-ended questions is key.

• Building Resilience: Why Matthew believes resilience is a quality that is built by doing "hard things" in a controlled way.

• Overcoming Stigma: The positive cultural shift in the military toward seeking mental health support without reprisal.

• The High Turnover Challenge: The difficulties and surprising strengths of leading an ever-changing force of young firefighters.

• Mentorship Matters: The importance of intentionally mentoring subordinates to develop their skills and confidence.

Veteran emergency manager Todd Hutchings draws on decades of experience from the front lines of CAL FIRE to the consulting world, delivering a powerful message about getting "back to basics" with wildfire preparedness. Discover why he believes true resilience starts at the grassroots level, the importance of low-impact mitigation like goat grazing, and why communities can't afford to wait for FEMA to solve their problems.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• Back to Basics: Why the most effective preparedness starts with simple, fundamental actions.

• The Consultant's Role: How to help organizations focus on prevention first, not just recovery paperwork.

• Lessons from Pebble Beach: Using low-impact mitigation like goat grazing in high-value communities.

• The "What If" Mindset: The importance of planning for the unknown and expecting the unexpected.

• Leadership is Key: Why a lack of forward-thinking leadership is one of the biggest obstacles to community safety.

• The Frontier Mentality: The need to embrace self-reliance and neighbor-helping-neighbor instead of waiting for federal aid.

• Your Go-Bag: A critical reminder to have your bag ready—and maybe even keep it in your car during fire season.

Ergodyne's heat stress expert Lexi Engelbart breaks down the science of staying cool in the most extreme environments, from industrial job sites to the wildland fire line. Learn about the crucial difference between ambient temperature and Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, the hierarchy of controls for heat safety, and the innovative cooling technologies—like phase change vests—that can protect you when the heat is on.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• Heat Stress is Universal: Why it's not just a problem for workers, but for everyone.

• Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT): The gold standard for measuring the real "feels like" temperature.

• The OSHA Rule: An inside look at the proposed federal rule for heat stress and what it means for worker safety.

• Water, Rest, Shade: Why these simple principles are the most effective way to mitigate heat stress.

• Cooling Tech Deep Dive: Exploring the pros and cons of evaporative cooling vs. phase change cooling vests.

• The Acclimatization Risk: Why the first week on a job in a new, hot environment is the most dangerous.

• PPE as the Last Resort: Understanding the hierarchy of controls and why engineering solutions come first.

• Voice of the Customer: How talking to frontline workers inspires the next generation of safety products.

Professor of Fire Science Guillermo Rein of Imperial College London unveils the shocking discovery of "fire waves"—a new phenomenon where urban green spaces can erupt in hundreds of wildfires. He explains the science behind the 2022 London fire wave, how a metric called Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) can predict this risk, and why other traditionally "wet" cities like Seattle and New York could be next.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• The London Fire Wave: The story of the London Fire Brigade's busiest day since World War II.

• Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD): The key meteorological indicator that can predict an urban fire wave after 10 days of high readings.

• A Warning for Green Cities: Why traditionally humid cities are now at risk for a new type of wildfire disaster.

• The Science of Smoldering: Why the world's largest fires (in peatlands) often have no flames and get little attention.

• A Scientist's Duty to Communicate: Why it's critical for scientists to develop the "muscle" of communication to translate complex research for the public.

• The Long Road from Science to Impact: How a scientific discovery can take years of persistence to become policy or new technology.

• Our Primal Fascination: A philosophical dive into why humans are so mesmerized by flames.

Video game developer Eamonn Glass, formerly of Electronic Arts (EA), introduces FIRE, a new cooperative video game where players battle apocalyptic wildfires with futuristic technology. Inspired by the tragic Lytton, B.C. fire, Eamonn's studio, Maggie's Farm, is creating a "combined arms" experience where you "win by saving," aiming to build a more fire-literate generation through engaging and entertaining gameplay.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• The Genesis of FIRE: How the destruction of a small town sparked the idea for a new kind of game.

• "Win by Saving": The core philosophy of creating a game centered on rescue and preservation, not destruction.

• Combined-Arms Firefighting: The five player classes and the high-tech, military-inspired arsenal used to fight fires.

• A Near-Future Canvas: How a futuristic setting allows for innovative tools like suppressant-firing rocket launchers and in-air retardant refueling.

• Smokey the Bear for a New Generation: The mission to embed real-world mitigation and resilience lessons into the gameplay.

• The "Firebase": How players manage their own base, learning about defensible space and fuel reduction to earn in-game benefits.

• Real-World Partnerships: Plans to incorporate real fire tech from innovators and the visual language of apps like Watch Duty.

First Street's Director of Wildfire Modeling, Phil Cunningham, explains the complex science behind creating property-level wildfire risk scores for the entire country. A meteorologist by training, he details his journey from studying the physics of fire whirls with supercomputers to running millions of statistical fire simulations to help homeowners, insurers, and lenders understand their true risk, both today and 30 years in the future.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• First Street's Mission: How they model climate risk for the financial industry and consumers.

• The Science of Risk Modeling: The process of simulating tens of millions of hypothetical fires to calculate burn probability and intensity.

• From Supercomputers to Statistics: The difference between complex physics models and the faster models needed for risk assessment.

• Your Zillow Fire Score: An inside look at the data that powers the risk ratings on major real estate sites.

• Climate Migration: How data is revealing the trend of people moving away from high-risk areas.

• The Threat of Pyroterrorism: A sobering discussion on how risk models can highlight vulnerabilities to intentional fires.

• The Power of Personal Responsibility: Why, despite all the high-tech modeling, simple actions like clearing brush are still the most effective form of mitigation.

Third-generation volunteer firefighter Krystal Caissie shares her passion for Camp Molly, a groundbreaking program in Canada that empowers and trains teenage girls for a future in the fire service. Discover how this hands-on camp is building confidence, breaking down barriers for women in a male-dominated field, and inspiring the next generation of first responders.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• What is Camp Molly? An inside look at the four-day camp that's changing young women's lives.

• Hands-On Training: From forcible entry to raising ladders, how the camp simulates real-world firefighter evolutions.

• A Family Legacy: Krystal's story as the first woman in a three-generation firefighting family.

• Determination Over Strength: Why persistence and a refusal to give up are the most important traits for a firefighter.

• The New Reality of Canadian Wildfires: A firsthand account of living surrounded by smoke and the need for preparedness.

• Inspiring the Next Generation: How programs like Camp Molly are a critical solution to the firefighter recruitment crisis.

• A New Passion: How instructing at Camp Molly has become a driving force in Krystal's own career.