Wildfires have grown dramatically over the last five years, both as a result of a century of fire suppression as well as contemporary climate change, which makes fires hotter and more destructive. The changing wildfire season not only affects those living near wildfires, but also those charged with fighting fires and managing lands on fire.
Recorded on November 10, 2021, this panel discussion considered how changing wildfires have changed not only how fires are fought, but who fights them. The panel included Brandon Smith, Co-founder and Chief Director of the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program (FFRP); Jameson Karns, a former firefighter from Southern California who is currently a PhD Candidate in History at UC Berkeley; and Lindsey Raisa Feldman, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Memphis, whose research and advocacy sits at the intersection of identity, labor, and incarceration, and who has conducted ethnographic research with incarcerated wildland firefighters. The panel was moderated by John Radke, a faculty member in the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley.
Watch the video above or on YouTube.
