Katrina Mohr is a federal wildland firefighter for the US Forest Service based out in Idaho. Katrina has worked her way through the ranks over the past decade and has parlayed her experience into an educational blog, the5ftfirefighter.com to help others navigate through the minutiae of the application process.

We discuss the current state of the Canadian wildfires that have been raging on the East Coast, what wildland firefighters are and what it takes to become one, how this career path differs from the more well-known traditional “building” firefighters – or "structure" firefighters as they’re formally known, along with the fundamentals of wildfires themselves – how they occur, how they spread, and how the various wildland firefighting personnel coordinate with one another to mitigate and contain them.

EPISODE LINKS:

- Grassroots Wildland Firefighters: https://www.grassrootswildlandfirefighters.com

- Wildland Firefighter Foundation: https://wffoundation.org/

- The 5ft Firefighter Blog Website: https://the5ftfirefighter.com/

GUEST LINKS

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kgmohr/

- Bio Site: https://bio.site/katrinamohr

PODCAST INFO

- Podcast Website: https://adventures-less-traveled.com

- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3LpB7vI

- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-less-traveled/id1681357393

OUTLINE

(00:00) - Introduction

(01:00) - NYC Smoke from Canadian Wildfires (2023)

(06:45) - Various Roles of Wildland Firefighters

(12:20) - How to Fight Forest Fires

(16:00) - Lifecycle of a Wildfire

(19:25) - Prescribed Burns

(22:10) - Peak Fire Season (Proactive vs Reactive Work)

(24:40) - Katrina's Background

(27:40) - the5ftfighter.com

(30:50) - Staying Mentally and Physically Fit

(33:10) - Skills Needed for Traditional vs Wildland Firefighting

(38:55) - Compartmentalizing Fear

(41:25) - Grassland Wildland Foundation

(44:00) - Wildland Firefighter Foundation

(44:50) - How Katrina Defines Adventure

PODCAST SOCIAL

- Instagram: https://instagram.com/adventures.less.traveled

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_ALT_podcast

- Facebook: https://facebook.com/AdventuresLessTraveled

MUSIC CREDIT

- Intro: My Own Way - Atlas Road Crew (https://spoti.fi/44rWaEt)