Alerts, warnings, preparedness, prevention, mitigation. There is an obvious global trend of people needing & wanting more of these things. Unfortunately, it's not an either/or. We need to robustly fund response & recovery as we make huge investments in reducing the effects of future disasters.

Episode 1: Hometown Prison

You're one degree from Samantha Montano and the rest of the folks in your meeting are two degrees away. Everyone in emergency management/response is going to be within six degrees of Samantha Montano. Hey, we should make a game of it.

Your 11/18 fire photo is a zoom looking across to the Bull of the Woods Wilderness in the Mt. Hood National Forest. In 2011, my IMT was working several lightning-caused fires on the Mt. Hood that made up the View Lake Complex.

Today's years-ago fire photo is of a night burnout operation from a dozer line on the 2008 Piute Fire, which was on the Sequoia National Forest in California.

Friday's photo also comes from the Castle Rock Fire and shows firefighters on a ski slope (IIRC).

And since I'm still one day behind for the week, here's another photo from the Castle Rock Fire. Night operations are always tough on crews and they often don't get the accolades they deserve. Night crews often make the difference.

Today's photo is from the Castle Rock Fire at Sun Valley/Ketchum, ID in 2007. This is a burnout operation--note the firefighters looking for any spots that might cross the road and the three in the lower left who were likely doing the lighting.

Here's a smoke in the trees photo from the same fire. I had to go home for a day during this roll & planned to be back the next. However, the Iron 44 helicopter crash happened & 7 firefighters from SW OR died, as did two pilots. I never made it back to the Plumas.

Missed yesterday because of the holiday, so I'll make up for it today. Here's a nice flame shot from the Rich Fire on the Plumas NF in 2008. That Feather River country is not an easy place to work.

No doubt. Man, whenever I fly into PHX/Tucson, I find the CAP & look to see how much growth has occurred, think about my fire experiences in the SW, remember my years living in AZ--& then there is western water law. I am not bullish about any place on this map.

Two thoughts: 1) Though I'm sure unintended, this could be a low-key post about current politics. 2) There can be pockets of stability in the midst of larger instabilities--think planning P and the daily rhythm of response.

I straddle the line with a tweaked societal/personal combo of A and second half C:

The future WILL be better for all because of the changes we will force, but as we put in that work, I also need to plan and take actions to protect the ones I love.

Oregon says hello.

Friday's fire photo is of a reseeding plane flying over the Cerro Grande Fire burned area near Los Alamos, NM. We tried to get grass growing ASAP to stabilize the soil and prevent erosion even though there was a lot of hydrophobic soil.

Vista Fire, 2001 I believe. Yes, the photo is mine. Here's another:

Today's photo is an aerial shot of a Los Alamos, NM neighborhood after the Cerro Grande Fire of 2000. Note the green trees and yards--many of the homes were burned by wind-blown embers finding a receptive fuel bed in or near the structures and not from a flaming front.