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When smokejumper Tim Hart died from injuries sustained during a hard landing in New Mexico in May, his wife Michelle Hart quickly realized that she needed a way to channel her grief. She also realized she was in a unique position to draw attention to the needs of wildland firefighters—she had a personal connection to the issues facing them, and as a lobbyist, she also had the legislative chops to make legitimate change at a congressional level. This all culminated in the creation of the <a href="https://www.grassrootswildlandfirefighters.com/tims-act">Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification and Pay Parity Act</a>, which addresses firefighter compensation, benefits, access to mental health resources and availability of housing for firefighters, among other provisions.



We spoke with Michelle about the bill and the grief that influenced its creation back in November. They&#8217;ve continued garnering support for the bill, though not much as changed with the bill since when we chatted with Michelle. As of January 19, the bill has been referred to the subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry, where it awaits support from the senate.

The Tim Hart Act and Channeling Grief with Michelle Hart

We covered such a broad range of subjects with guest Phil Higuera in this episode that it was hard to nail down a title. Nonetheless, Phil&#8217;s expansive research background lended well to a conversation that covered paleoecology, how lake sediment is used to determine events that happened 13,000 years ago, how forests are changing with a warming climate and how we humans can choose to respond to those changes.



Our main objective with the conversation was to discuss Phil&#8217;s research in Western Washington&#8217;s San Juan Islands (host Amanda&#8217;s backyard) while getting his Master&#8217;s degree at the University of Washington; the work he did there is part of a limited pool of research on fire history in Western Washington, and we wanted to see if Phil might have some perspective on the risk of a large, high-severity conflagration in this area, particularly with the 2020 Labor Day Fires as a pertinent reminder of what can happen in these ecosystems.

Climate Change Impacts on High Severity, Low Frequency Fire Regimes with Phil Higuera

This episode&#8217;s guest, Sue Husari, went from pounding dirt as the first woman to work for the Lassen Hotshots in 1976 to an eventual role as the Fire Management Officer for the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service, from which she retired in 2012. In between, she saw fundamental changes not only in how fires burn but in how we fight them. She provides some truly invaluable perspective in this episode, which is guest hosted by our friend Zeke Lunder from The Lookout, an online project that aims to contextualize wildfire information through storytelling and digital media.

Four Decades of Fire, With Sue Husari (and Guest Host Zeke Lunder)

How will the infrastructure bill impact wildland firefighting and our overall fire resilience? We spoke with Riva Duncan—who is the executive secretary of the Grassroots Wildland Firefighter Coalition—about the bill and its implications for the wildland fire workforce. In addition to providing some greater understanding of the bill and its provisions, Riva also answers a few of the most common questions she&#8217;s been getting about the legislation.

What the Infrastructure Bill Means for Wildland Firefighters With Riva Duncan

Our first guest-hosted (an in-person) episode is live! In this episode, Zeke Lunder of &#8220;The Lookout&#8221; cameos as host of Life with Fire, and sits down with fire researchers Yana Valochovic and Eric Knapp at his office in Chico, CA. They spoke about Valochovic and Knapp&#8217;s research on the Camp Fire, which deeply impacted the town of Paradise, CA three years ago this week. Their research explores how homes are arranged and built, and how these factors can impact their susceptibility to ignition during wildfires. This is an essential conversation on home resilience, defensible space and what factors contribute to home ignitions in wildfires. Call it &#8220;Building in The WUI 101,&#8221; if you will, but you won&#8217;t want to miss the invaluable insight, tips and lessons learned from Knapp and Valochovic&#8217;s extensive research and work in the aftermath of the Camp Fire.

Homes as Fuel With Guest Host Zeke Lunder, Yana Valochovic and Eric Knapp

Life with Fire Podcast

Life with Fire Podcast

Episodes

Ep. 25—The Tim Hart Act and Channeling Grief with Michelle Hart

Ep. 24—Climate Change Impacts on High Severity, Low Frequency Fire Regimes with Phil Higuera

Ep. 23—Four Decades of Fire, With Sue Husari (and Guest Host Zeke Lunder)

Ep. 22—What the Infrastructure Bill Means for Wildland Firefighters With Riva Duncan

Ep. 21—Homes as Fuel With Guest Host Zeke Lunder, Yana Valochovic and Eric Knapp

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