The Hotshot Wake Up

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Sam Forstag joins the show today to talk about his time as a wildland firefighter and Smokejumper, before deciding to enter a different arena, running for a congressional seat in Montana. Sam has been a longtime advocate for the wildfire workforce, working as Vice President of his union’s local.
We talk wildfire issues, wildfire costs, housing costs, public lands, and a litany of other topics. Sam has been traveling throughout Montana for the last month in anticipation of the June 2nd Primary.
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A new study on Meals Ready To Eat, MREs, was done by the organazation Mom’s Across America. These meals are carried and eaten by wildland firefighters across America. I’ve eaten hundreds, if not thousands, of them. Mom’s Across America provided 24 different MRE items to 3rd-party independent laboratories for testing. The results… much worse than you could imagine.
Some items contained 17,300% the safe aluminum levels, very high levels of lead and mercury in certain drink powders, apples with 27 pesticides, some of which are banned. They found levels of Trenbolone manufactured in China in food items, a very strong anabolic steroid with horrific side effects.
I cover the entire study and the items they tested. They now warn of severe health issues from bioaccumulation of these chemicals, including cancers, birth defects, in utero defects, androgenizing females, and violent tendencies.
They offer solutions to change this food system and lay out the minimal costs required.
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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Authorities in Chile have arrested four suspects in connection with the current wildfires that have destroyed entire towns and led to 21 confirmed fatalities. One of the fires was said to have been started in a Eucaliptis grove, an industrial timber farm.
The timber industry in Chile is massive, and timber products are the 2nd largest export for the country. There has been long standing tension between the indigenous populations and the current government over these large timber operations. Both sides have been using the wildfire narrative as a form of protest and as a reason for a crackdown.
Zeke Lunder joins me for a conversation about these recent fires and the history behind these long time tensions. It’s not a cut and dry issue, and there is a lot to discuss.

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A House committee votes today on whether it should study the effects of drone incursions over wildfires. If passed, they will come up with mitigation solutions, including using force to bring the drones down, wildfire anti-drone radio towers, and using “net guns.”

CAL FIRE has started testing of fully autonomous wildfire vehicles. Tests include supply drops, repeater use, surveillance, suppression, and drone launching platforms.

A new study on women who are pregnant and the effects of wildfire smoke. 200,000 women were a part of the study.

Nevada allows insurance companies to remove wildfire insurance from homeowner polices.

The Red Cross is preparing for an abnormally busy spring fire season.

BLM releases report on 38-mile-long fuel break on the U.S.-Mexican border.

Oregon lawmakers introduce legislation that would require insurance companies to provide rate discounts if communities and homeowners complete project work.

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The Secretary of the Interior officially announced today the creation of the United States Wildland Fire Service. Effective today, the transition period begins, and the unification of wildfire resources within the Department starts.
The Department provided transition plans, framework, and authorities of the new Service, which I cover in full.
Unification of assets, budgets, IT services, and payroll is underway, along with streamlining overhead structures and fully aligning pay structure, position descriptions, and retirement benefits.
A big day for the new United States Wildfire Service.
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.