“I consider myself a resource manager, and my tool is fire”

The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center on yesterday posted another very interesting video interview with a wildland fire professional. This one features Brett Fay, the Assistant Fire Management Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Region.

A couple of his statements stand out:

I consider myself a resource manager, and my tool is fire.

Early in his career he hoped that…

…by 2010 we would be in a system where we would be managing more fires than we’re putting out, that we’d have a public that understood that they need to take care of their private property if they live next to a wildland, that we’d be killing less people over time because we’d be exposing less people. That idealism has gone. I’m not quite a cynic yet, but I can see it from here.

On a side note, I love these LLC interviews with wildland fire professionals, and I will be glad to donate to the LLC a wired lavalier microphone if they would promise to use it.

Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire. View all posts by Bill Gabbert