Lenya Quinn-Davidson has committed her career to changing the ways we think about prescribed fire. She also started the Women in Prescribed Fire Training Exchange program, or WTREX, which empowers women and people of color to gain experience as firefighters, mentors and leaders in fire management through the use of prescribed fire. We spoke about the importance of diversity in the fire world, and about how we can do better in mentoring, empowering and retaining women and BIPOC in positions in wildland fire.

Jeremy Bailey is a prescribed fire manager with the Nature Conservancy, and the brains behind the Prescribed Fire Training Exchange or TREX. On this episode, we talk about his inspiration for starting the TREX program, about how firefighters, homeowners, Indigenous peoples and communities have used prescribed fire to manage the landscapes around them, and about how prescribed fire is a critical tool for adapting ourselves to wildfire.

Welcome to episode zero of Life With Fire, a new podcast that aims to deepen our understanding of wildfires and the critical role they play in America's forests, lands and communities. For our intro episode, host Amanda Monthei explains her background as a wildland firefighter and writer, and shares a bit about what you can expect from the show.

Keep an eye out on our first three episodes, which will be dropping by August 17.

You can listen to the show (or maybe even subscribe if you're really feeling it) on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.