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• 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?

• Wildfire aviation fuel costs are on the rise, and concerns from wildfire CEO’s about a shortage.

• A rant about the irony of all the problems in wildland fire, including mental health, staffing, physical health, and the old trope of “make it work,” doesn’t help with these issues.

• Plus more.

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• 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 fire positions, fuels work, prescribed fire, and more.

• Senators sent a letter this week to the USDA demanding answers about the Forest Service reorganization. There are some very valid questions about R&D, clarifications on office locations, and employee duty stations.

• I cover all that and more.

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• 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 Southwest fires.

• Definitely keep an eye on the Hummingbird Fire in the Gila Wilderness, and an interesting fire.

• The Bear Jaw Crew in Arizona has disbanded after 2+ decades. New Mexico continues to work towards two new Hotshot Crews.

• A conversation about standing up a new Hotshot crew and maintaining quals.

• Japan has its 3rd largest wildfire in its history, and Canada sees multiple fires in BC.

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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 wildfire world.

They are taking a four-phase approach to address the following strategic mission outcomes developed in the Phase 1 Summit with Agency leadership.

• Interagency coordination and common operating picture

• Strategic planning, funding, and workforce development

• Cultural shift to proactive wildfire management

• Technology and data integration for intelligence

• Community and landscape resilience and hardening

• Post-fire recovery and adaptation

The next phase will take place in Salt Lake City in October. If you want to know where the wildfire tech revolution is headed, this is well worth the listen.

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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 Service headquarters, and Research and Development will be moved as well. They are moving away from their Regional model and will transition to a more state-based model.

This reorganization will take place in phases, and all Regional Offices will be closed. Some will be repurposed, including Juneau, Alaska, Vallejo, California, and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Wildfire operations will continue to operate mostly as is, and Sarah Fisher provides those details as well.

I thank the Deputy Chief and the Associate Chief for their time in explaining this process to the listeners.

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• 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 Wildfire Act. The drone pilot argued he didn’t know firefighters and pilots were engaged in the massive inferno.

• A conversation about the growing issue of hobby drones over wildfires, and the lengths firefighters and pilots are forced to take to mitigate them.

• Forest Service Chief Schultz sends out a memo declaring an end to red tape and cumbersome mandates, and putting decision-making back in the hands of operators on the ground.

• Europe launches new wildfire center and is working to expand funding for mitigation, aviation, and training. Huge wildfire aviation conference in Rome.

• California HOA sues homeowners for $23,000 and tries to foreclose on properties burned down in the Eaton Fire.

• A full operational update and a rant.

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• 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 started on her property. The MN DNR doesn’t usually fine large amounts, maybe this is their way of setting an example? Full story.

• Fires are popping up across the western United States. Multiple new starts in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, and New Mexico.

• Full Operational Update as we increase to a PL2.

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• 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 Nebraska.

• The Southwest is expecting a critical fire weather event pushing in early this week, with temperatures above 100 degrees. Fire managers and Incident Management Teams are prepping for a possible wildfire outbreak.

• Elected officials in Colorado sent a letter to Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz, asking for more prescribed burns and forest mitigation work due to concerns over record-low snowpacks. But asking Agencies and Firefighters to put more fire on the ground in these conditions is a big ask… and still no hazard pay for these increasingly hazardous operations. A full discussion on this.

• When do you declare an escaped burn a wildfire? A new report from the Klamath National Forest.

• Plus more.

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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 issues, wildfire costs, housing costs, public lands, and a litany of other topics. Sam has been traveling throughout Montana for the last month in anticipation of the June 2nd Primary.

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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 testing. The results… much worse than you could imagine.

Some items contained 17,300% the safe aluminum levels, very high levels of lead and mercury in certain drink powders, apples with 27 pesticides, some of which are banned. They found levels of Trenbolone manufactured in China in food items, a very strong anabolic steroid with horrific side effects.

I cover the entire study and the items they tested. They now warn of severe health issues from bioaccumulation of these chemicals, including cancers, birth defects, in utero defects, androgenizing females, and violent tendencies.

They offer solutions to change this food system and lay out the minimal costs required.

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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 are the 2nd largest export for the country. There has been long standing tension between the indigenous populations and the current government over these large timber operations. Both sides have been using the wildfire narrative as a form of protest and as a reason for a crackdown.

Zeke Lunder joins me for a conversation about these recent fires and the history behind these long time tensions. It’s not a cut and dry issue, and there is a lot to discuss.

THE HOTSHOT WAKE UP — Thank you to all of our paid subscribers. Your support allows us to donate generously to firefighter charities and supports all of our content. You also receive all of our article archives, more podcast episodes, Monday morning workouts, and also entered into our giveaways, plus more.