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.
Kettle CEO Isaac Espinoza explains how his insurtech company is using a sophisticated, data-driven model to solve the wildfire insurance crisis in the Western US. Discover why the traditional "all-or-nothing" approach to risk is failing, how Kettle's granular, parcel-level analysis creates new opportunities for coverage, and what the future of parametric insurance looks like for a world of increasing climate risk.
In this episode, you'll learn about:
Kettle's Mission: To provide financial resilience against climate change through better risk modeling.
Granular vs. Binary: Why viewing wildfire risk as a spectrum, not an on/off switch, is key.
The Science of the Model: How Kettle uses 50+ data sources to model both fire ignition and spread.
Parametric Insurance: An inside look at innovative products like "Fire in Parcel" that allow for simple rules and ultra-fast claim payments.
The "Protection Gap": How Kettle is providing solutions for properties that the traditional market has abandoned.
Underinsurance: The hidden danger of not keeping your coverage in line with rising rebuilding costs.
The Real Cost of a Home: How rising insurance premiums can impact a property's overall affordability and market value.
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.
Leading fire meteorologist Theodore Giannaros explains the terrifying new reality of extreme wildfires that couple with the atmosphere to create their own weather, defying traditional prediction models. Discover the "missing piece" in our understanding—3D meteorology—and learn why fires are no longer going to sleep at night, how remote sensing tools like radar and lidar are essential for research, and why scientists and firefighters must work together to "reverse engineer" effective solutions.
In this episode, you'll learn about:
Fire-Atmosphere Coupling: The science behind extreme fires that generate their own wind, vortices, and weather.
The 3D Atmosphere: Why surface weather is no longer enough to predict the behavior of today's megafires.
The Fires That Don't Sleep: How climate change is eroding the crucial nighttime window for firefighting.
The Vicious Feedback Loop: How massive fires are accelerating climate change, which in turn creates more fire.
Remote Sensing the Blaze: Using tools like mobile radar and lidar to safely study extreme fire behavior.
Reverse Engineering from the Decision: A new philosophy for developing scientific tools that are truly useful to practitioners on the ground.
Hiding the Complexity: The importance of making complex science simple to use without hiding the uncertainty.
Integrity & Passion: The two most important values for the next generation of scientists.
Inventor Wayne Darnell shares the incredible origin story of his wildfire suppression technology—an idea sparked by blowing out a single match that led him to mount a massive airboat fan on a vehicle to control fire with pure wind. Discover the science behind how high-velocity airflow can cool, disrupt, and suppress a flame front without a single drop of water, and learn about his journey from Los Alamos National Lab to self-funding a revolutionary prototype.
In this episode, you'll learn about:
The "Matchstick Moment": The simple observation that inspired a radical new approach to firefighting.
The Science of Wind: How high-velocity air can bend fuel, cool flames, and disrupt combustion.
From Idea to Prototype: The self-funded journey to build and patent the air-mover.
Testing at Tall Timbers: The results from the first live-fire tests at the renowned research station.
A Tool for Prescribed Burns: How the technology can be used to safely propagate and control beneficial fire.
Protecting the Firefighter: Using the powerful airflow to create a safe working environment by pushing heat and smoke away from crews.
Parallel Innovation: The fascinating coincidence of two inventors independently developing the same core concept using different technology (fans vs. jets).
Returning guest Annie Leverich of The Fire Networks shares insights from her recent prescribed fire training in Nebraska, diving deep into the cultural shifts happening within the fire community. Explore the concept of the "recovering suppressionist," the challenge of overcoming status quo bias, and why effective communication and storytelling are the most critical tools for bringing "good fire" back to the landscape.
In this episode, you'll learn about:
W-TREX in Nebraska: Lessons from a Women's Prescribed Fire Training Exchange on the fire-dependent Niobrara Valley Preserve.
The "Recovering Suppressionist": Understanding the mindset shift from all-out suppression to embracing beneficial fire.
Burner Bob vs. Smokey Bear: The emergence of new characters and campaigns to promote a more nuanced view of fire.
The "Wicked Problem" of Fire: Why changing fire culture is a complex, tangled challenge.
Indigenous Knowledge: The importance of respecting cultural burning practices and partnering with, not extracting from, Indigenous communities.
Finding the Burn Window: The incredible precision and observation required to safely conduct a prescribed burn.
The Power of Storytelling: How The Fire Networks blog is building a library of diverse voices to advance the fire conversation.
Amy Berry of the Tahoe Fund and Jesse Murray of NV Energy detail their groundbreaking public-private partnership that is creating a new model for community-wide wildfire resilience in Lake Tahoe. Discover how their "Smartest Forest Fund" is deploying innovative technology like the BurnBot remote masticator, using advanced conflagration modeling, and bringing insurance companies to the table to solve the WUI crisis at a neighborhood level.
In this episode, you'll learn about:
A Model Partnership: How a nonprofit (The Tahoe Fund) and a utility (NV Energy) are teaming up to accelerate mitigation.
The "Smartest Forest Fund": A "philanthropic venture capital" approach to de-risking and deploying new fire tech.
Enter the BurnBot: Using a remote-controlled masticator to clear hazardous fuel on steep slopes faster and safer than hand crews.
The Rise of "Urban Conflagration": Shifting the focus from defensible space to the critical need for home hardening.
Data-Driven Defense: How conflagration modeling can pinpoint the specific homes that need retrofits to protect an entire community.
Tackling the Insurance Crisis: Using hyper-local mitigation data to persuade insurance carriers to rewrite their risk models.
From Red Tape to Action: The challenges of environmental litigation and the need to move faster on forest health projects.
Wood as a Renewable Resource: Creating a local market for biomass by converting gas boilers to wood heat.
Climate Resolve founder Jonathan Parfrey explains how his organization is pioneering simple, physics-based solutions to extreme heat and wildfire risk, like "cool roofs" and "cool pavements" that are already changing the landscape of Los Angeles. Discover the counterintuitive economic findings from their in-depth study of the Woolsey Fire, and learn about future-forward ideas like "mood ring roofs" and resilience districts.
In this episode, you'll learn about:
Negative Solar Forcing: The science of reflecting sunlight back into space using smarter surface materials.
Cool Roofs & Pavements: How L.A. installed 100,000 cool roofs and how reflective pavement lowered air temperatures by 3.5°F in a test neighborhood.
The "Mood Ring Roof": A look at the lab-developed technology that changes roof color based on temperature.
Lessons from the Woolsey Fire: A deep-dive into Climate Resolve's report on wildfire displacement.
The Myth of the Burdened Community: The surprising discovery that "receiving communities" often see an economic boon after a disaster.
The Insurance Problem: Why underinsurance and unpermitted structures create major recovery hurdles.
Resilience Districts: A bold proposal for funding local, multi-hazard mitigation efforts through property taxes.
The Psychology of Smoke: The profound mental health impacts of prolonged wildfire smoke exposure in urban areas.
Fire Marshal Brittany Brown explains her philosophy of being a "salesman of life safety" and the art of tailoring community risk reduction (CRR) to the unique needs of a community. Drawing on her experience moving from the high-risk wildland environment of Colorado to the suburbs of Kansas City, she breaks down why data, trust, and understanding culture are the most powerful tools in a fire prevention officer's arsenal.
In this episode, you'll learn about:
The "Salesman of Life Safety": The key to effective fire prevention is selling people on their own self-preservation.
A Tale of Two Cities: The stark differences in risk between Commerce City, CO, and Leawood, KS.
Data-Driven Prevention: Why a deep understanding of community demographics is the first step in any CRR program.
Building Trust: The importance of showing up and becoming a known, trusted face in the community.
The "Why" Before the "What": How to connect with people's values to motivate them to take action.
From Air Force to Fire Service: Brittany's unique career path from aircraft mechanic to fire investigator to Fire Marshal.
Aircraft Crashworthiness: A fascinating look into the science of helping people survive airplane crashes.
Stanford's Associate Director of Resilience, Cody Hill, details how the university is transforming its 8,200-acre campus into a "living laboratory" for wildfire resilience. Discover their multi-layered approach, from installing a network of 50 advanced carbon-sniffing sensors and AI-powered cameras to pioneering partnerships with local fire agencies and reintroducing "good fire" to the landscape.
In this episode, you'll learn about:
The "Living Lab": How Stanford uses its land to test and validate new wildfire technologies and strategies.
A High-Tech Detection Network: Combining Alert California cameras with 50 N5 "sniffer" sensors for early fire detection.
From Management to Resilience: The strategic shift from simple vegetation clearing to a holistic resilience program.
The Power of "Good Fire": The challenges and importance of reintroducing prescribed and pile burns in partnership with local tribes.
Public Education is Key: The critical need for campaigns like "Know Your Zone" to prepare communities for evacuation.
Lessons from Pepperdine: How a well-prepared campus successfully sheltered in place during a major wildfire.
Engaging the Next Generation: Bringing Stanford students into the wildfire resilience team for hands-on research.
Alli Connect founder and CEO Colleen Hilton explains how her company is using AI and a vetted network of culturally competent therapists to respond to the first responder mental health crisis. Learn why traditional methods can fail to connect firefighters and police with the right care, and how this new technology-driven approach provides confidential, effective support to keep our heroes healthy and whole.In this episode, you'll learn about:
Emergency management instructor and veteran firefighter Arthur J. Simental unveils his new board game, Emergency Operations Center: Wildfire Mayhem—a training tool designed to be more immersive and realistic than a traditional tabletop exercise. Inspired by military war games, this ESF-based game challenges players to manage resources, a dynamic, growing fire, and unexpected "chaos" events, providing a powerful new way for first responders to learn and prepare.
In this episode, you'll learn about:
Former 20-year Congressman Curt Weldon, founder of the Congressional Fire Caucus and the FIRE Grant program, delivers a fiery call to action for the American fire service to reclaim its power and demand change at the highest levels. He reveals the shocking inside stories of battling bureaucracy to get firefighters the technology and resources they deserve—from the fight for interoperable communications to his new demand for the first-ever White House Conference on Firefighters and EMS.
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In this episode, you'll learn about:
Retired Battalion Chief Mark Whaling, a 42-year veteran of the fire service, shares the story behind his groundbreaking invention, the Heli-Hydrant—a permanent, pilot-activated water source for firefighting helicopters. Discover how a simple observation led to a system that ends the inefficient and time-consuming process of dipping from ponds or portable tanks, and learn the gritty lessons of innovating within a culture resistant to change.
In this episode, you'll learn about:
