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Life with Fire

Amanda Monthei

What are the benefits of prescribed burning? Why have wildfires gotten so severe lately? How can I help protect my home and community?
Life With Fire podcast aims to answer these questions (and many others) while deepening our understanding of the critical role fire plays in America’s forests, lands and communities.
Hosted by writer and former wildland firefighter Amanda Monthei, Life with Fire features interviews with everyone from scientists to fire management experts to Indigenous practitioners and folks doing the work on the ground. Through these interviews, Amanda hopes to explore our relationship with fire, as well as ways we can better coexist with it in the future.

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20 episodes
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#85
October 23 · 38 min
Wildfire Policy and Collaborative Solutions with Tyson Bertone-Riggs
While we've had a few episodes here and there go into the policy side of the wildfire conversation, we've never had a full episode dedicated to it. And Tyson Bertone-Riggs—co-founder of the Alliance for Wildfire Resilience, and former executive director and policy manager for the Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition—was a perfect guide for our first legislative foray.
#84
June 22 · 43 min
Using Tree Rings To Better Understand Fire History in the PNW with Dr. Andrew Merschel
For a long time, fire research in the moist forests of the Pacific Northwest was dominated by two main assertions: that wildfires in the West Cascades are typically "high-severity, low frequency" (in other words, dominated by stand-replacing fires that don't happen very often), and that Indigenous burning largely took place in prairies, river valleys and low-lying oak ecosystems. But extensive tree ring sampling over the last decade has shown that, in fact, these assertions aren't telling the e
#83
May 19 · 1 hr 3 min
Bringing Wildfire Public Information Into the Modern Era with Noah Baker
Today's episode is about our favorite topic of all: wildfire information! Guest Noah Baker—the Wildfire, Climate and Community Health Specialist for the City of Flagstaff—guided us through the social science behind communicating about wildfire, the ways in which we need to modernize our communication pathways with the public and why it has never been more important for wildland firefighters to talk about their work.
#82
March 19 · 20 min
Latine Forestry Workforce Part 3 (Spanish Version): La Fuerza Laboral Latine en el Sector Forestal y Por Qué la Solidaridad es Importante con Manuel Machado
En el tercer episodio de nuestra serie sobre la Fuerza Laboral Forestal Latina, la presentadora invitada Gaby Eseverri conversa con Manuel Machado, el Coordinador del Programa de la Fuerza Laboral de Recursos Naturales del Programa de Extensión de la Universidad Estatal de Oregón. Este episodio fue posible gracias al apoyo de Rivershed SPC, y estamos agradecidos por su ayuda para hacer realidad esta serie. Note: This episode was recorded in Spanish and covers some of the resources and trainings
#81
February 25 · 27 min
Part 2: The Latine Forestry Workforce and Why Solidarity Matters with Manuel Machado (and Guest Host Gaby Eseverri)
In the second episode of our Latine Forestry Workforce series, guest host Gaby Eseverri speaks with Manuel Machado, who is the Natural Resource Workforce Program Coordinator for the Oregon State University Extension program. This episode was made possible with support from Rivershed SPC. Gaby and Manuel spoke about the Latine forestry workforce in the Pacific Northwest, including the workforce's history, how H-2B and immigrant status contributes to a culture of exploitation rooted in a fear of
#80
January 15 · 44 min
Part 1: The Latine Forestry Workforce with Dr. E.J. Davis
We all hear a lot about the need to significantly scale up our forest adaptation and resilience work—that is, thinning, replanting, prescribed burning and other tasks that are essential in preparing for and recovering from wildfire. But what's often lost in this conversation is *who* is doing this work, and the future of that—at times, fraught—workforce in the face of increasing ecosystem needs in the West. It's one thing to say we need to get something done, but another thing entirely to know w
#79
Oct 17, 2025 · 1 hr 8 min
Braiding The Personal with the Ecological, with HOTSHOT Author River Selby
Welcome to our second episode with women and non-binary firefighters who have written books about their experiences working both in fire and on hotshot crews more specifically. Our guest for this episode is HOTSHOT author River Selby (they/them), who spent seven years as a wildland firefighter—four of which were as a hotshot—from 2000 to 2010. They've since gotten their undergrad and MFA (in fiction) at Syracuse, and are currently working towards a PhD in Nonfiction with an emphasis in postcolon
#78
Aug 7, 2025 · 1 hr 26 min
The Intricacies of Hotshot Culture, with Wildfire Days author Kelly Ramsey
We're bringing you two, count em TWO, episodes with women and non-binary firefighters and writers who have written books about their experiences working both in fire and on hotshot crews more specifically. The first in this short series is with author Kelly Ramsey, whose book WILDFIRE DAYS was released in June. Kelly and I spoke about some of the emotional toll of fighting fire—including the terrifying feeling of not feeling like you belong, especially in such an intense work environment—as well
#77
Jul 17, 2025 · 45 min
The Social Contract of Managing Fire with Stephen Pyne
Welcome to our second episode with THE Stephen Pyne! Stephen is a renowned author and fire historian who, in addition to his academic life, also spent over a decade working on a fire crew on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon early in his career. Given this background, he seemed like quite possibly the perfect person to chat with about the recent Dragon Bravo Fire in Grand Canyon National Park.
#76
May 30, 2025 · 47 min
Community Resilience Series Ep.3: Preparing for and Recovering From Megafires with Butte County Fire Safe Council Executive Director Taylor Nilsson
Welcome to the third and final episode of our Community Wildfire Resilience Series, supported by Fire Aside! In this episode, we spoke with Butte County Fire Safe Council Executive Director Taylor Nilsson. Butte County, CA has seen more catastrophic fire in the last eight years than most places in the West, possibly even the world. Starting with the Camp Fire in 2018 (85 killed, 14,000 homes lost), then the North Complex in 2020 (16 killed, 2,300 structures lost), then the Park Fire in 2024 (70
#75
May 21, 2025 · 47 min
Community Resilience Series Episode 2: The Importance of Scaling Up Home Risk Assessments with Fire Aside CEO Jason Brooks
Welcome to the second episode in our series about community-level wildfire resilience! We spoke with Fire Aside CEO and co-founder Jason Brooks about how Fire Aside—a home assessment platform that allows agencies to have direct 1:1 engagement with residents on resilience actions they can take—fits into bigger picture policy, data and decision making around community wildfire resilience in California and beyond.
#74
May 13, 2025 · 59 min
Community Resilience Series Ep. 1: California Wildfire Policy (And So Much More) with Former CAL FIRE Chief Deputy Director Chris Anthony
Welcome to the first episode in a three-part series about community wildfire resilience, sponsored by Fire Aside. This episode explores a number of big, meaty topics you've likely been hearing about in the wildfire space, from wildfire insurance to categorical exclusions to NEPA to wildfire resilience policy in the era of urban conflagrations like those in LA this winter. Our fearless leader on this journey is former CAL FIRE Chief Deputy Director Chris Anthony, who has worked with some major
#73
Apr 8, 2025 · 43 min
After The Fire with Collin Haffey
Today's episode is all about post-fire—how to plan and prepare for post-fire challenges like debris flows and landslides, how to recover, how to maintain a love of place after it's impacted by fire, and how we can reduce suffering in this often dynamic phase of wildfire response and recovery. Our guest on this topic is Collin Haffey, the Post Fire Recovery Program Manager for the Washington DNR, who prior to working with the DNR worked as the Forest and Watershed Health Coordinator for the New
#72
Feb 16, 2025 · 18 min
How the Loss of Federal Workers Will Have A Massive Impact on Fire Operations This Fire Season, With Riva Duncan
There's been a lot of postulating about whether the firing of some 4400 (and counting) Forest Service and National Park employees on Friday will have an impact on fire operations this summer. We spoke with Riva Duncan, who has decades of experience in fire operations for the US Forest Service (before retiring with the agency), and her answer couldn't be more clear: yes, these losses in capacity are *already* having an impact on our ability to suppress wildfires this summer.
#71
Nov 13, 2024 · 37 min
Fire in the Southwest Ep. 6: The Ebb and Flow of Public Trust Around Prescribed Fire, with New Mexico Deputy State Forester Lindsey Quam
In our sixth and final episode of the Fire in the Southwest Series—sponsored by the Southwest Fire Science Consortium and the Arizona Wildfire Initiative—we explore the complex, multicultural fire histories and management dynamics in New Mexico, with Deputy State Forester and Tribal Liaison Lindsey Quam. New Mexico's recent relationship with fire has been fraught with distrust in the aftermath of the 2022 Calf Canyon Hermits Peak Fire, which started from an escaped prescribed fire and an escape
#70
Oct 23, 2024 · 49 min
Fire in the Southwest Ep. 5: Using Wildfire To Build Resilience at the Landscape Scale, with Dr. Jose (Pepe) Iniguez
For our fifth episode of the the Fire in the Southwest Series, we're talking managed wildfires, which has a number of alter egos depending on who you talk to in the wildfire world, some of which include "wildland fire use" or "managing wildfires for resource benefit". Dr. Jose "Pepe" Iniguez, a research ecologist at the Rocky Mountain Research Station, is our fearless leader on this journey through the fraught, occasionally contentious world of managed fire. Pepe has had a long career studying w
#69
Sep 3, 2024 · 31 min
Pros, Cons and Misconceptions of Aerial Firefighting with Matt Lynde
If you've found yourself wondering "where the heck is the aircraft?" while watching a fire burn near you, this is the episode for you. Guest Matt Lynde—a helicopter operations specialist for the Forest Service's Regional Office in California—gave us a run-down on why some fires have huge airshows and others have almost none, and even tackled a few common misconceptions about the use of aircraft in fighting wildfires. Among these misconceptions is the idea that aircraft put fires out and that if
#68
Jul 23, 2024 · 51 min
Fire Tech and Improving Access to Wildfire Information, with Watch Duty Founder John Clarke Mills
With fire season escalating across the West this week, many people are downloading Watch Duty App for the first time. But what is Watch Duty all about? Why was it created? Where does their information come from? What do agency employees think about it? We spoke to Watch Duty CEO John Mills about the Watch Duty app as well as fire technology more broadly, and gave him a chance to respond to some listener questions from PIOs, wildland firefighters, community resilience experts and others in the Li
#67
Jun 25, 2024 · 45 min
Fire in the Southwest Ep. 4: The Shifting Role of the Forest Stewards Guild in an Era of Megafires, with Zander Evans
Welcome to episode four of our Fire in the Southwest Series, supported by the Southwest Fire Science Consortium as well as the Arizona Wildfire Initiative! Today's guest, Zander Evans, is the executive director of the Forest Stewards Guild, which has a mission of promoting ecologically-, economically-, and socially-responsible forestry as a means of sustaining the integrity of forest ecosystems and the human communities dependent upon them. Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Guild's team—includi
#66
Jun 18, 2024 · 37 min
Fire in the Southwest Series, Ep. 3: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge into Western Fire Management with Jon Martin
Welcome to our third episode of our Fire in the Southwest series! In this episode, we spoke with Jon Martin, who is the Director of Native American Forest and Rangeland Management Programming at the Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University. Jon spent three decades working in forestry before retiring, and now uses his extensive interagency background to find pathways that can help tribes achieve their management goals within a Western fire management framework. This topic

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