#24: Justin Angle - On The Fireline - Wildfires in the Western USA

"Just because it's a view you've seen your whole life doesn't mean it's a normal, healthy forest."

See full show notes here, with links to all topics discussed.

My guest today is Dr. Justin Angle, creator of the podcast series “Fireline”, which dives into the realities of wildfire in the western USA.

Justin is Associate Professor of Marketing at The University of Montana in Missoula. He earned his Ph.D. and MBA from the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. Justin also produces his own interview podcast called A New Angle.

Today we focus on the “Fireline” podcast series, released earlier this year through Montana Public Radio. If you haven’t heard it, the seven episodes cover different aspects of wildfire. The series presents multiple points of view with a goal to demonstrate that the topic is complicated and nuanced, and we all have a role to play in finding solutions.

Today, we discuss many of Fireline's topics, including:
- How wildfire impacts can be both positive and negative, depending on perspective and context.
- The complexities of how years of wildfire policy and suppression have affected fire behavior, and how rising temperatures catalyzes more and larger fires.
- The growth of the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) and how that creates more negative human impacts.
- Relatively recent research showing that wind-blown embers can be a primary driver to fire spread and a primary risk to homes - not the towering flame front that we often envision. This changes how communities and homeowners need to prepare, which quickly turns into a sociology problem more than a science problem.

Any discussion of wildfire is incomplete without investigating human history and influence on wildfire, and Fireline covers indigenous use of fire through the perspective of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes, as well as some fascinating anthropological research.

We also review Justin’s atypical route to creating the show, and the process and partners he engaged to make it a reality. Fireline was produced at the peak of the pandemic, requiring Justin and his team to pivot multiple times.

You may also be interested in my interview with Rick Halsey of the California Chaparral Institute, where we took a deep dive into wildfire behavior, especially in chaparral habitats.

Catching Fire by Richard Wrangham
Fire in Paradise - on Netflix
Life with Fire - wildfire podcast
Fireline's Collaborators: Jeff Hull, Nick Mott, Victor Yvellez, Josh Burnham, Aj Williams
Cathy Whitlock
Jim See
Kimi Barrett
Libby and Alex Metcalf
Lily Clarke
Richard Wrangham
Steve Pyne - fire historian with several excellent books
Tony Incashola Jr and Sr - Father and Son
Wildfire Adapted Miss