Fire on the Ranch

When the Richard Spring Fire tore through southwestern Montana in August, Clint McRae, a 4th generation Montana cattle rancher, feared he'd lose not only his home, but possibly hundreds of animals and the vital grasslands they depend on for survival. On the podcast, McRae talks about that fire, his role as first responder on his property, and the desperate strategies he and other ranchers use to try and keep their cattle alive as fire approaches (1:17).   Then, we speak to Michele Steinberg (20:15), the director of the Wildfire Division at NFPA, about the 2021 wildfire season, and the significant efforts underway to reverse the destructive trends we've seen from wildfire over the last five years—a situation Steinberg calls a "rolling disaster."   Links: Nfpa.org/outthinkwildfire Nfpa.org/firewise