United by Fire
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Available wherever you get your podcasts
For hundreds of millions of years, wildfires were directed solely by the weather, vegetation and terrain. But in the last century in the United States, people have sought to suppress even those beneficial fires that would otherwise clear out dead vegetation, which can fuel wildfires, and stimulate new growth. Now, catastrophic megafires erupt each year, and in some places, climate change has extended the fire season. Clearly something has to give — our society must change its relationship with fire.
This dilemma smolders at the heart of United by Fire — the fourth season of the podcast series Laws of Notion, produced by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s Institute for Science & Policy. A gripping and educational listening experience, United by Fire intertwines stories of those who lived through the 2020 Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires — two of the largest blazes in Colorado history — with contextual threads of history and science.
Each episode explores an aspect of the fires, from the impact on water quality to the challenges of rebuilding in the aftermath. Emotional recollections from residents, fire ecologists, firefighters and others deliver hard truths about the uncontrollable. Living in the mountains has its risks, says David Wolf, battalion chief of the City of Golden Fire Department. “I can’t guarantee that your home will be safe if you build up here.”
Listeners are challenged to weigh their dreams and values against the associated risks posed by fire. Common desires, such as owning a home or living an outdoor-focused lifestyle, for instance, can inadvertently attract people to fire-prone areas. “Where we choose to put down our roots, a home, a life, is influenced by our values and necessities,” says host Kristan Uhlenbrock, who was drawn to Colorado by her enthusiasm for the outdoors. “Yet how often when we choose to live somewhere, do we choose risk outside of our control, like fire?”
The series could have included more Indigenous voices. Having coexisted with wildfires and having also used fire to manage the land for millennia, Indigenous people have invaluable knowledge.
Nonetheless, United by Fire is a thoroughly reported and thoughtful primer on the United States’ fraught relationship with fire. As wildfires change, so must we.
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