The Hotshot Wake Up

On Today’s Show: To Support And Subscribe: https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ A full operational update of all fires across the nation. Colorado fires expect extreme fire behavior again today. Red flag conditions continue across much of the Region. Progress is being made on most of the fires across Utah and the Southwest. A breakdown of year-to-date wildfire numbers in Utah compared to last ye...

On Today’s Show: To Support And Subscribe https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ Colorado has declared a State of Emergency due to the wildfires actively burning across the State. The National Preparedness Level moves to 4. Updates from the USWFS and Forest Service on the burnover event on the Knowles Fire. Wildfires continue to make large runs across Utah. The Pocket Fire in Arizona increases to...

On Today’s Show: To support and subscribe: https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, along with the Department of the Interior, today announced new steps to reduce hazardous exposure for federal wildland firefighters. These actions include expanded access to N95 respirators on the fireline, required training, and standardized decontamination protoc...

On Today’s Show: To support and subscribe: https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ The Hotshot Wake Up is 100% supported by the readers and listeners. Thank you. The National Preparedness Level increases to a PL3 Wildfire bust across much of the West. Full operational update. Human remains found after the Upriver Fire in Spokane. Sheriff reports individuals refused to evacuate. Incendiary devices w...

On Today’s Show: 100% listener and reader supported. To Subscribe: https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ Full operational update. New fires in Colorado, Utah, California, and the Southwest. The Forest Service has reinstated early retirement incentives as part of the reorganization plan. Both VERA and VSIP options are being offered. High level operators from the Forest Service have started to acce...

On Today’s Show: To Support And Subscribe: 👉https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ Today, I talk to Derrick Holdstock, owner and operator of Western Fire Resources. Derrick has been very proactive in the contracting and wildfire world, recently returning from a trip to D.C. Before he started Western Fire Resources, Derrick was a wildlife biologist who practiced prescribed fire and later served as...

On Today’s Show: To Support and Subscribe 👉https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ The Sandy Fire in California is an early season wake up for the State. Urban interface fires will only increase, and fuel mitigation is a major step that residents and the state need to take seriously. A conversation about the harsh reality of the changing conditions, the wildland urban interface, and the pre-fire w...

On Today’s Show: To Subscribe and Support:👉 https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ Full operational update. Hotshot crews are still having issues securing the vehicles they need to operate at the level they are being asked to. Reports of dozens of Type 3 Engines that remain unstaffed. Canada cancels $106M wildfire satellite contract with American company. Trade war actions leaking into wildfire?...

On Today’s Show: To Support And Subscribe 👉https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ Full wildfire update Fires in Georgia, Florida, New Mexico, and Montana USDA Secretary Rollins provides the 2026 wildfire secretarial memo. It covers priorities for the 2026 fire season and directives for the Forest Service moving forward. I go over the priorities, including initial attack, surge capacity, secondary...

On today’s show: To Support And Subscribe: 👉https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ Full operational update of all wildfires. The causes of the Georgia wildfires have been announced: the Highway 82 fire was caused by a birthday balloon, and the other by someone welding. There was a firefighter who died after responding to a Florida fire. Updates from Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, and the Southw...

On Today’s show: To subscribe and support: https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/👉 I cover the wildfire technology summits I attended in both Nevada and Boise. I sit down with Chief Mark Niemeyer to discuss what the Western Fire Chiefs Association is doing to bring together Agencies, wildland firefighters, and technology companies to facilitate a proactive approach to tech adoption in the wildfir...

On Today’s Show: To Support and Subscribe: https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ Today, the Forest Service officially announced its reorganization plans. I interviewed Deputy Chief of Fire and Aviation Management, Sarah Fisher, and Associate Chief of the Forest Service, Chris French, to get the details of the plan. There is a lot that is taking place, including the relocation of the Forest Servic...

On Today’s Show: To Support and Subscribe: https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ It was revealed in court documents this week that a helicopter pilot tried to take down a hobby drone over a wildfire with bucket drops. The pilot was between drops, protecting homes, when he spotted the drone. The judge in the case fined the drone operator $5K, well below the recommended amount, set forth in the Wil...

On Today’s Show: To Support And Subscribe: https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ As we head into crews coming on, a conversation about pre-season jitters. I talk about how I and others trained for the season, the first day on a Hotshot crew, and what was expected versus the reality. The jitters are normal; it means you care. A Minnesota woman was fined $150,000 for not calling in a wildfire that...

On Today’s Show: To Subscribe And Support: https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ Wildfires in Nebraska have burned nearly 700,000 acres this week, with the Morrill Fire now the largest in the State’s history. Full update. South Dakota got a wake-up call with the Qury Fire, now 7,200 acres. The fire’s management has already expressed a shortage of aviation resources due to the ongoing fires in Neb...

On Today’s Show: To Support And Subscribe 👉https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ Sam Forstag joins the show today to talk about his time as a wildland firefighter and Smokejumper, before deciding to enter a different arena, running for a congressional seat in Montana. Sam has been a longtime advocate for the wildfire workforce, working as Vice President of his union’s local. We talk wildfire iss...

On Today’s Show: To Support And Subscribe: 👉https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ A new study on Meals Ready To Eat, MREs, was done by the organazation Mom’s Across America. These meals are carried and eaten by wildland firefighters across America. I’ve eaten hundreds, if not thousands, of them. Mom’s Across America provided 24 different MRE items to 3rd-party independent laboratories for testin...

On Today’s Show: To Support And Subscribe: https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ Authorities in Chile have arrested four suspects in connection with the current wildfires that have destroyed entire towns and led to 21 confirmed fatalities. One of the fires was said to have been started in a Eucaliptis grove, an industrial timber farm. The timber industry in Chile is massive, and timber products a...

On Today’s Show: To Support And Subscribe 👇https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ A House committee votes today on whether it should study the effects of drone incursions over wildfires. If passed, they will come up with mitigation solutions, including using force to bring the drones down, wildfire anti-drone radio towers, and using “net guns.” CAL FIRE has started testing of fully autonomous wil...

On Today’s Show: To Support And Subscribe 👇https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ The Secretary of the Interior officially announced today the creation of the United States Wildland Fire Service. Effective today, the transition period begins, and the unification of wildfire resources within the Department starts. The Department provided transition plans, framework, and authorities of the new Serv...

On Today's Show: To support and subscribe 👇https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ It’s one year after the deadly Palisades Fire. What have we learned from this horrible event, and more importantly, what can we do to prevent it from happening again? It’s clear that major mistakes were made, some long before the fire even started. It’s never been more important to let the operators on the groun...

On Today’s Show: To Support And Subscribe: https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ Yesterday, USDA Leadership announced plans to move the Forest Service leadership and senior staff from D.C. to Salt Lake City. This is part of the reorganization plan, which will phase out the 9 Regions and create five hubs. This still all hinges on Congressional approval. Senators penned a letter to Forest Service C...

On Today’s Show: To Support And Subscribe: https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ Today, Sam Davis, CEO of Bridger Aerospace, joins the show to talk about the 2025 wildfire season, the expansion of the company into Spain, what Bridger has planned for the future, and more. Sam joined the company in 2019 and took the helm after founder Sen. Tim Sheehy stepped down to run for U.S. Senate. We also get...

On Today’s Show: To Support And Subscribe 👇https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ A very Happy Thanksgiving episode for the wildland firefighter community and their families. There is plenty to be thankful for today, including doing a job you love with the kickass people you work with, in our nation’s most beautiful landscapes. A fun conversation about it all. I also cover the Oregon fire season....

On Today’s Show: To Support And Subscribe 👇 https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/ Montana had a near record slow wildfire season, but it was one of their most expensive. Why? The Windy Rock Fire played a big role, a Team Fire in a wilderness study area that cost $56M in initial reports. Environmental groups in the State are questioning forest management, suppression, prescribed fire, and project...