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.
https://lifewithfire.simplecast.com
episode 21: Homes as Fuel with Zeke Lunder, Yana Valochovic and Eric Knapp
Our first guest-hosted (an in-person) episode is live! In this episode, Zeke Lunder of "The Lookout" 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'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 "Building in The WUI 101," if you will, but you won't want to miss the invaluable insight, tips and lessons learned from Knapp and Valochovic's extensive research and work in the aftermath of the Camp Fire.
To hear more from Zeke, check out Life with Fire Episode 14. More of his work with The Lookout can be found here: https://the-lookout.org/
The paper authored by Valochovic and Knapp and referenced throughout this episode can be found here: https://fireecology.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s42408-021-00117-0
Knapp and Valochovic are both members of the California Fire Science Consortium. More information on this organization can be found here.
To support Life with Fire podcast, consider donating to our Patreon, which can be found here: www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod