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Today, I’m joined by Gabriel Mann, Director of Hotshot, to discuss the new allegations brought by a lawsuit in California yesterday regarding the events surrounding the Palisades Fire.

These new allegations point the finger at the State of California and the water utility for their role in the Palisades Fire disaster. The lawsuit alleges that utility lines were not actually deenergized as initially claimed, possible attempts to alter records after the fact, neglect of the reservoir, attempts to save face while the fire was burning, infrastructure improvements stopped due to environmental concerns, as well as mismanagement of State lands around the community.

This development has massive repercussions, as the total financial cost of this fire has been estimated at over $100 billion.

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Six months ago, the Palisades and Eaton Fires rolled across communities in southern California, and the official cause of the Palisades Fire is yet to be confirmed. Work by the Washington Post and others suggests that the Lachman Fire may have rekindled, which began on New Year's Eve from fireworks in the same area.

Brianna Sacks, a disaster reporter for The Washington Post, had to help her father evacuate from the Pacific Palisades the day the fire rolled through that community. We discuss what it was like on the day of the fire, the potential cause, the struggles to rebuild, and the overall sense of the community afterwards.

Since then, she and others have worked to pinpoint the cause of that fire, which remains officially undetermined. The Washington Post points to the Lachman Fire, a smaller fire that started days before the Palisades Fire became a massive urban conflagration.

We cover all of this and much more.

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Today, I welcome San Bernardino County Fire Chief Dan Munsey to discuss what he believes are the four biggest lies in the wildfire industry, and what the actual truths are behind those lies.

The Four Lies the Chief Addresses:

1. There is a large wildfire crisis. (Truth: We have a land management crisis.)

2. There is a fire insurance crisis. (Truth: We have a crisis of homes burning down.)

3. The Palisades and Eaton Fires were very destructive “wildfires.” (Truth: These were urban conflagrations with a small wildfire component.)

4. There is a wildfire technology crisis. (Truth: There is a wildfire technology adoption crisis.)

We then discuss the leadership of the new wildfire agency, the reality of moving forward with it, and I ask him if California can realistically achieve success with its wildfire land management under the new “Make America Rake Again” campaign.

Chief Munsey oversees the largest fire protection district in the Nation, spanning almost 20,000 square miles and serving a population of nearly two million. The Chief has testified before Congress multiple times, advocating for better wages, improved technology adoption, and the maintenance of trails and forest roads to help wildland firefighters access wildfires.

In addition to Chief Munsey’s service to San Bernardino County, he is a past chair of the California Fire Chiefs Association Operations Section and has served since 2019 as the chair of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Technology Council. He is a director on the FIRESCOPE board of directors, the vice-president of the California Metro Fire Chiefs Association, and the vice-president of the San Bernardino County Fire Chief’s Association.

Chief Munsey believes strongly in collaboration with allied stakeholders that results in synergy to achieve better public safety outcomes. Of particular interest is emerging technologies and the efficiencies it brings to public safety.

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• 20-year-old Wess Roley has been named as the shooter in the Idaho Wildfire ambush that took place yesterday in Hayden, Idaho.

• New details have emerged about the suspect, which I cover.

• He allegedly has a past criminal record and mental health issues.

• Today, we remember the Granite Mountain Hotshots and the Yarnell Fire. I give my thoughts about being on a wildfire when this news was announced to our crew.

• Full operational update.

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• The press conference has just finished, with new details on the incident.

• Two firefighter deaths were confirmed by the local sheriff, FBI en route, and SWAT on scene.

• Law enforcement says they are still actively taking fire from an unknown number of “well-prepared suspects.”

• The sheriff and firefighters responding called it an “intentional fire and ambush.”

• I cover the initial call and radio traffic leading up to the shooting.

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• The public land sale proposal has been removed from the budget bill.

• Sen. Mike Lee said this morning that he may reintroduce the proposal, but will remove the sale of Forest Service land and significantly reduce the amount of Bureau of Land Management Land available for sale.

• A firefighter received second-degree burns to the hands, arms, and face on the Conner Fire in Nevada.

• Dani Shedden, mental health counselor and owner of Close the Gap Wellness, joins for an interview about Mental Health in the wildfire workforce.

• We discuss current uncertainty in the industry, the importance and safety of focusing on the operational mission, and finding a positive outlook in your work.

• Plus an operational update.

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• I cover the proposal to sell off up to 1.5% of public lands for housing developments. I am a firm believer that public lands are our greatest national treasure.

• I cover the full details of the plan, which expects to raise $10 billion, and further fund land management costs. But is it worth it?

• Full operational update of all wildfires across the United States.

• Alaska has responded to 1 fire per hour in the last 48 hours. Setting up for a very busy weekend.

• Southwest continues to burn, with multiple injuries on New Mexico fires.

• DOI and USDA announce new mental health program for wildland firefighters and dispatchers.

• Plus more.

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Today, I welcome Dr. Carrick Detweiler, founder and CEO of Drone Amplified. They have developed the quadcopter drone and software platform used by the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, State Agencies, and others for aerial ignitions on wildfires and prescribed burns.

We discuss how these platforms are being utilized, the growth of these types of technologies and operations, working with wildfire agencies, and what the future holds.

Aside from his work with Drone Amplified, Dr. Carrick Detweiler is the Susan J. Rosowski Associate Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL), a Faculty Fellow of the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute, and has a courtesy appointment in the UNL Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. Dr. Detweiler co-directs the NIMBUS Lab, working with aerial robots and other robot systems.

Dr. Detweiler completed his Ph.D. at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) at MIT, studying computer science and robotics in the Distributed Robotics Lab.

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.

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John Mills moved to California and quickly came to realize the harsh reality of living in the wildland-urban interface. More out of necessity than anything else, he began working on the Watch Duty platform, a wildfire-tracking app, with Co-founder David Merrit.

John and I discuss the process of developing wildfire tech platforms, the future of the company, and the struggles and successes of his and his team’s journey to building out the platform.

Thanks to John for taking the time to discuss the evolution of Watch Duty.

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.

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Yesterday, Secretary Rollins and Secretary Burgum received their 2025 wildfire briefing in the Forest Service offices and signed a joint wildfire memo afterward. Further, Secretary Rollins issued a memorandum directing the USDA and Forest Service to take immediate action on wildfire response.

This includes new directives during times of PL3 and higher, including using non-fire employees to help with wildfire support and response. Also, increasing red card and other qualifications, ordering, purchasing, dispatching, and more.

Basically, everyone will be available to fight fire or support those efforts.

Also, the budget bill that will be voted on soon contains language that would create “no tax on overtime.” This would have major implications for wildland firefighters who earn up to 144 OT hours per check or 1,400 OT hours per summer. I'm watching that closely.

Plus more.

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.