Solving Wildfires: A safe space for kids to play with fireworks

In Episode 05, Eric and Sutton create a new mascot that can help solve wildfires. How? This fiery mascot allows kids to safely play with fire in a designated space: a Sparky Station. That way, kids get the urge to light fires before heading into the woods, thus preventing wildfires! Watch the whole episode to find out whether the idea is successful or not.

This episode features retired Smokejumper Steve Baker. Steve jumped out of airplanes as a smokejumper for 18 years, and also did 2 years as a hot shot firefighter. He emphasizes two main points that could help America’s firefighters. First, we need to recognize climate change is taking place and these fires are becoming more prevalent, larger in size, and fire seasons are growing longer. And due to the increasing intensity of wildfires, Steve urges us to take better care of the men and women who fight fires for a living.

One possible way to do that is by supporting the Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification and Pay Parity Act, which is a proposed bill in Congress right now that would increase the wages of forest firefighters. Secondly, Steve asks us all to stop building homes in the wildland-urban interface. It’s very difficult to defend homes from fire if they’ve been built in an area that’s prone to fire hazards. Don’t build homes in the wildland-urban interface! Fact: More than 60,000 communities in the United States are at risk for WUI fires.

Are you feeling stoked as hell to help prevent forest fires? Tight! Want to take a little action to help prevent forest fires? Fantastic! We’re going to send out Sparky patches to the first 50 individuals that donate to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, which is an organization that works to help families of firefighters killed in the line of duty and to assist injured firefighters and their families.

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