Wildfire Matters

From thermal infrared flights at 10,000 feet to the daily intel reports guiding national strategy, this episode takes you inside the engine room of wildfire intelligence. We sit down with Scott Mayer with the Bureau of Land Management and Rachael Hansen with USDA Forest Service both based at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise to explore how data becomes decisions. They share how real-ti...

What does it take to build fireline with 60,000 pound machines and protect sensitive ecosystems while doing it? In this episode of  Wildfire Matters , host Caleb Ashby sits down with Dustin Hall, a seasoned dozer operator, and Erik Kriwox, a veteran Resource Advisor (READ), to explore how wildfire line construction with heavy equipment works on the ground. From navigating lava fields and avoiding...

You can’t talk about wildland fire without talking about land. In this episode, we sit down with TJ Clifford, Diane Mastin Dixon, Casey Cheesbrough, and Lance Okeson to break down how fuels management works—and why it’s a cornerstone of BLM’s approach to reducing  wildfire  severity. From planning and partnerships to boots-on-the-ground treatments, this conversation highlights how managing vegetat...

When you work for the Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service, things are done a little differently than in the lower 48. Chena hotshots Galen Milchman and Emily Evans join us to discuss what it's like to be a hotshot in the Last Frontier. They share details about life on Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, AK, fighting fire on the tundra, and the camaraderie built while camping, working, and eati...

Fire jobs are some of the most unique out there; piloting aircraft for the Bureau of Land Management goes above and beyond. Bob McCormick, Smokejumper Instructor Pilot, and Lisa Allen, Air Tactical Pilot, join Piper Brandt in the studio to discuss what it’s like to be a pilot for BLM Fire. They share what it takes to be a smokejumper or leadplane pilot, what they encounter on the job, and how thei...

When disaster strikes, such as during hurricanes, floods, or search and rescue missions, an all-hands-on-deck situation can arise. This is where wildland firefighters and management can step in to help. Mike Mattfeldt, Program Manager of International Fire Response and Support for the USDA Forest Service, with Jim Schultz, Fire Management Specialist and Scott Beacham, Regional Fuels Management Spe...

It’s recruitment season for Fire Year 2025 and new fire job listings are opening daily on USAJOBS.gov. Kim Darnall, Human Resources Officer at the National Interagency Fire Center, and Ben Patten, Fire Program Specialist at the BLM Montana/Dakotas State Office, join us to share their tips on how to land the fire job of your dreams. Kim and Ben cover how to navigate USAJOBS, what to include (and no...

Dispatch is the behind-the-scenes fire job that keeps wildland fire operations running. From ordering hotshot crews and supplies to responding to medical emergencies, dispatchers never know what might be waiting for them on the other end of the phone. Amy Lancaster, Miles City Interagency Dispatcher Center Manager; Tommy Hayes, BLM Upper Colorado River District Fire Management Officer; and Katie W...

Depending on your agency, UAS stands for unmanned, uncrewed, or unoccupied aircraft systems, also referred to as drones by many people. BLM Remote Pilots and Remote Systems Program Manager  Matt Dutton  named the BLM program for what it is and does - remote pilots, remote systems operation. It was developed to supplement the aircraft fleet in support of resource and incident management initiatives...

While on a fire assignment,   Twin Falls Helitack Supervisor Brandon “Skinny” Williams and Assistant Supervisor Taylor Clelland take a break to chat about what it is like being on a helitack crew. Brandon joins the conversation from the back of a helicopter in Utah while Taylor joins us on the road as a passenger in a vehicle heading to another fire assignment in New Mexico. As good friends before...

Talking about the weather is common in everyday conversation, but talking about all the work that goes into collecting weather data is a bit more complicated. When it comes to firefighter and public safety, it is essential to gather localized weather data for fire management - a job for remote automatic weather stations or RAWS. The BLM Remote Sensing/Fire Weather Support Unit maintains over 2,300...

The award-winning National Fire Equipment Program (NFEP) located at the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) incorporates firefighter innovation with industry expertise to provide the Department of the Interior with economical, safe, and efficient fire equipment. The program is responsible for around 1,200 fire vehicles in the BLM, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Burea...

Michele Crist, landscape ecologist for the Bureau of Land Management fire planning and fuels management program, studies landscape changes in the environment including research on non-forested burned areas, invasive species, and sagebrush conservation design. Her work is focused on developing landscape-scale modeling frameworks and restoration strategies for sagebrush lands, forests, and wildlife...

Ever wonder what happens to a burned area after a wildfire? How about the seeds used for land restoration? Jake Ferguson, the BLM National Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation (ESR) program lead, talks about the immediate emergency actions taken to stabilize the land, the burned area rehabilitation (BAR) process and the work that goes into post-fire recovery which may include seeding when de...

Coleen Haskell, Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) Program Manager, and Karen Dante-Wood, JFSP Technology Transfer Specialist, introduce us to the program created by Congress in 1998 to provide funding and science delivery for studies associated with managing wildland fire, fuel, and fire-impacted ecosystems. We discuss the history, background, and the collaborative efforts among fire researchers,...

BLM Fire employs over 3,600 wildland firefighters and support personnel nationwide. Since premiering in 2022, the Wildfire Matters podcast has focused on BLM Fire employees in the various positions supporting wildland fire management. If you are interested in learning how some BLM Fire employees found their professions and why they stayed, Carrie Bilbao and Jennifer Myslivy invite you to listen to...

There are quite a few questions swirling about the new Wildland Firefighting positions in the Wildland Fire Management 0456 series recently reclassified by Office of Personnel Management (OPM). While there are a lot of unknowns yet to be worked out, Jeff Arnberger and LJ Brown, BLM Fire Operations, Cindy Pogue, BLM Fire Human Resource Officer, and Rob Berger, BLM Fire Senior Advisor discuss the ne...

Steve Shaw, BLM Fire Branch Chief of Preparedness and Suppression Support, talks about his wildland fire management journey starting on an engine crew in Montana, to hotshot in California, fire management in Arizona, and currently supervising the preparedness and suppression support program for BLM Fire at the National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho - the program that provides the logistics and...

In the 49th state, wildfire suppression is a bit different than in the Lower 48. This second episode dedicated to the Alaska Fire Service (AFS) featuring Ray Crowe, A.J. Gavin, and Ryan McPherson, focuses on wildfire suppression operations in the Land of the Midnight Sun. Ray Crowe, Acting Branch Chief of Fire Operations and Alaska Native, talks about his career with AFS and the specialized positi...

The BLM Alaska Fire Service (AFS) was created in 1982 to provide efficient and cost-effective fire suppression services for all U.S. Department of the Interior and Native lands and assists those entities with other fire management activities. In this two-part series, six AFS employees talk about how they got into wildland fire management, what they do now, and what they like most about working for...

Katrina Arguello, BLM engine crew member working in Las Cruces, New Mexico, talks about transitioning from the military to wildland fire. A veteran of the Marine Corps, she spent her first year fighting fires as a member of the BLM Spokane Initial Attack Suppression Module Fire Crew 6201. Now beginning her second year of firefighting, Katrina is finding out what it is like to work on a wildland fi...

Matthew Norden, BLM Honor Guard Coordinator, explains how he got involved with the BLM Honor Guard, what they do, who they serve, and why it is an important program for all firefighters. Matt offers some history, discusses the services the Honor Guard provides, and explains how BLM employees can become members along with the training and commitment involved. The BLM Honor Guard is a team of curren...

BLM National Medical Director Dr. Andrew Southard, or Dr. Drew, talks about the Operational Medical Support Program (OMSP) which provides emergency medical services that focus on initial stabilization and extraction of injured employees in the wildland environment. Dr. Drew discusses the similarities and differences between OMSP and Emergency Medical Services (EMS), when OMSP was developed, and wh...

Katie Wood, Program Manager for the National Wildfire Coordinating Group or NWCG, discusses what NWCG does and how this group operates. Katie begins the session by taking about her career, from being hired right out of high school as firefighter on an engine crew to working her way to up to the National Interagency Fire Center as the NWCG Program Manager. Katie then explains how NWCG got started a...

Kelly Woods, Director of the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (LLC), talks about her interagency career in wildland fire beginning as a GS-1 wildland firefighter on a type 2 hand crew, working various suppression and support jobs with different agencies, to her current position as director of the Wildland Fire LLC.  We discuss the development of the center, the mission to facilitate learning f...