Akawa Butte Fire is Hungry! - 7/19/2026 The Lookout 2026-09-25 | Akawa Butte Fire is Hungry! - 7/19/2026
A pickaroon or hookaroon is a handled tool for moving firewood and branch wood. The Lookout 2025-09-21 | ...
What is a Pickaroon? Tool Raffle is Ending! The Lookout 2025-09-21 | Firewood season is here. Today is the last day to get tickets for our tool raffle!
What is a Pickaroon? Tool Raffle is Ending! The Lookout 2025-09-21 | Firewood season is here. Today is the last day to get tickets for our tool raffle!
A Late-Summer Prescribed Burn in Nevada City The Lookout 2025-09-20 | We attended a 20 acre prescribed burn in Nevada County on 9/17/2025 at First Rain Farm. This burn was notable in that has often been difficult to get permits to do late-summer/early fall burns in past years. This project was executed by Fire Rain Land Stewardship Services, under the leadership of their owner, Tim Van Wagner. firstrainlandstewardship.comThis video takes you inside the action of the burn. If you like it, check out our 2022 'Inside a Prescribed Burn' video, here: youtu.be/Y3TlbpeYAm4Thanks for supporting The Lookout! We are viewer-supported. Become a PayPal subscriber at the-lookout.org/donate
Fires Slowing Down - 9/10/2025 The Lookout 2025-09-13 | Minimal spread on fires in California. Prescribed fire season approacheth.
Talking Fire Policy, with Frank Carroll The Lookout 2025-09-11 | Frank Carroll discussed the evolution of wildfire policy since 2009, emphasizing the shift towards managed fire and aggressive initial attack strategies. He highlighted the impact of the '2009 Chevron Deference Memo', which allowed agencies to write their own policies without legal constraints. Carroll criticized the overuse of drones to light strategic firing operations during wildfire operations, and the lack of prescribed fire due to bureaucratic hurdles. He advocated for local conversations and legislative changes to support fire management, including compensation for property damage caused by fire suppression. Zeke Lunder emphasized the need for empowering operational leaders to make ecologically-informed fire management decisions. Zeke Lunder and Frank Carroll discuss the challenges and evolutions in fire management, emphasizing the need for transparency and accurate public communication. They highlight the rapid fire-lighting capabilities of Hotshots, leading to unanticipated consequences like fires spreading to private lands. The conversation critiques the term "full suppression" and advocates for clearer descriptions of fire operations and management strategies. Frank praises the Coconino and Gila National Forests for their open communication and suggest that a strike team of old-school PIOs could improve public engagement and understanding across different regions.Thanks for supporting The Lookout! We are viewer-supported. Become a PayPal subscriber at the-lookout.org/donate
Can California Forestry Become More Fire Resilient? The Lookout 2025-09-09 | This broadcast was part of a longer livestream about the Garnet Fire, in Fresno County, and the ongoing fires in the Klamath River country. We clipped it out to be its own video as it is a broader topic that we cover here on the channel. youtu.be/8-e5Lvbr2G4Thanks for supporting The Lookout! We are viewer-supported. Become a PayPal subscriber at the-lookout.org/donate
Another Day on the Garnet Fire 9/8/2025 The Lookout 2025-09-09 | Garnet Fire continues to grow, has crossed McKinley Grove Road.
Garnet Fire - TO THE MOON! - 9/7/2025 The Lookout 2025-09-08 | The Garnet Fire has gobbled about 20 square miles in the past 12 hours. We'll catch you up on where this is happening.Also, a meandering conversation about the complicated world of California forestry, and the many economic obstacles of pivoting the industry to more wildfire resilient practices.
Garnet Fire in Dinkey Creek - Initial Blowup 9/7/2025 The Lookout 2025-09-07 | Imagery courtesy of Alert California.
Working at Scale - Is There Still Time? The Lookout 2025-09-06 | We’ve been reporting on how the Garnet Fire, burning on the Sierra National Forest east of Fresno, has been spreading into a large area of old-growth forest in the Teakettle Experimental Forest. The Climate & Wildfire Institute, a think tank with connections to UCLA, got about $5.4 million from the California Climate Investments (CCI) fund to plan and implement a 3,000+ acre prescribed burning project here.The project was still in planning, and nothing had been burned before the wildfire arrived.CCI money comes from taxing industrial polluters like major oil refineries or dairy operations for their CO2 emissions. The Teakettle grant project promised it would lock up carbon safely in large trees in the old forest, keeping it out of the atmosphere.As of midday on 9/2/2025, the entirety of the Teakettle project area has burned. Lots of that carbon is now roaming the global jet streams. We talk with CWI's Scott Scherbinski and Bethany Hannah about their project, what might come next, and their thoughts on whether or not we can burn our way out of our forest health crisis.Thanks to our sponsors:MYSTERY RANCH - mysteryranch.comQTAC--qtacfire.comFYREBX--fyrebx.comThanks for supporting The Lookout! We are viewer-supported. Become a PayPal subscriber at the-lookout.org/donate
Indirect Attack - How Large Fires Get Stopped - 9/5/2025 The Lookout 2025-09-06 | We look at the ongoing strategy/firefights on the Garnet and Dillon Fires, talk about how firefighter-health issues associated with Valley Fever might affect tactics on the Salt Fire, and look at how the Garnet Fire has behaved since gobbling up the Teakettle Experimental Forest.Also, an extended interview with the Climate & Wildfire Institute about their now-incinerated Teakettle Climate Resilience project.
Carbon Project Burns, Cannabis Slobs, and Wildfire Tactics. The Lookout 2025-09-04 | A very busy day in California firefighting, and the weird ways humans interact with nature.
Into the Era of Reburns - Jamie Allen - 9/2/2025 The Lookout 2025-09-03 | Talking fire history, fire ecology, wildlife, and forest history, on the Mid-Klamath River.
Teakeetle is Still Cooking, Root and Blue Fires - 9/1/2025 The Lookout 2025-09-02 | A new fire near Mount Shasta and Castle Crags has our attention this evening.
Teakettle Boils, Conifer Supremacists, the Era of Re-Burns. - 8/31/2025 The Lookout 2025-09-01 | A quick look at the Garnet and Blue Fires, in Fresno and Siskiyou Counties, California, and a meadering discussion about the future of fire and forestry in California, as megafires from the past 15 years begin to burn again.About 1,000 acres of the 3,000 acre Teakettle Experimental Forest burned today, largely under a big column. The rest of the old growth reserve, east of Fresno, seems likely to burn in the coming days.
Fire Ecology of Sierra Nevada fir forests - 8/30/2025 Fire Report The Lookout 2025-08-31 | We look at some videos from the Garnet Fire area/Teakettle Experimental Forest, and some videos of prescribed burning in Ti Bar, off the Klamath River, where the Dillon Fire is currently a threat.8/30/2025
Danger in Plain Sight Episode 5 is Live The Lookout 2025-08-29 | The fifth and final episode of our Danger in Plain Sight video series is now live! The series follows The Lookout Director, Zeke Lunder, on a journey from Altadena to Palisades alongside retired Cal Fire Chiefs Tim Chavez and Dennis O'Neil. As they traverse the city on bikes, they grapple with historic and recent wildfire events and squarely face current and future fire danger. This series is for anyone who is curious about Southern California's unique fire issues. youtube.com/watch?v=MCeV9L8O-Fc&list=PLhM9lgdfXk1o-fRGipOHX3qNWXfEZu2fD
LA Fire Hazards - Danger in Plain Sight - Episode 5 The Lookout 2025-08-29 | 'After Action Report'In May of 2025, we headed to Los Angeles for a week and rode e-bikes around, looking at the recent fire areas and checking out wildfire hazards across the edges of the City with a few of our most-experienced wildland firefighter/fire behavior analysts friends. We were there to try to make sense of the recent fires, and to share lessons we've learned across several careers spent working on large fires in California.This is the final of our five-part 'Danger in Plain Sight' series.In this episode, we travel to the origin of the Palisades to look at how the landscape and vegetation drove the fire's rapid initial spread, and we reflect on the wide variety of wildfire hazard conditions we have seen across our 120-mile bike transect of the city.This episode is sponsored by FyreBx.Our series notes are posted here, on The Lookout website:https://the-lookout.org/danger-in-pla...Thanks to our series sponsors:BurnBot-- burnbot.comFire Aside-- fireaside.comFYREBX - http://fyrebx.comDanko Meredith-- dankolaw.comAventon--aventon.comThanks for supporting The Lookout! We are viewer-supported. You can buy Lookout merch here:ko-fi.com/thelookout/shopBecome a PayPal subscriber at the-lookout.org/donate
Fall 2025 Firesafe Tool Raffle The Lookout 2025-08-29 | One of our Lookout Superfans – Greg Heidenreich, of Westwood, used to work in a saw shop in Chico. Greg recently donated a bunch of landscaping tools to us for use as a fundraiser, so we are going to raffle them off, here!We have 4 separate kits. You can buy tickets for each one separately. Tickets are $5/each, and can be secured with Venmo or PayPal. We’ll have the drawing on the fall equinox – September 21st, and contact winners for shipping information, then! the-lookout.org/raffle-mania
Dillon, Peak, Garnet 8/28/2025 The Lookout 2025-08-29 | Catching up on significant fires in California.
Friends in Harms Way, How the Forest Service Got The Worst Ground - 8/26/2025 The Lookout 2025-08-27 | Lightning fires, tough times on the Klamath River, and how SPI ended up with the best tree-growing land. Also, the Garnet Fire might burn a big piece of old growth in the Sierra that people have been struggling to get prescribed fire onto for years. Planning = death. Fire moves faster than NEPA.
West Coast Fire Report - 8/25/2025 The Lookout 2025-08-26 | Pyrogeographer Michael Steinberg joins us to talk about the behavior of the Pickett Fire, on its final day of burning, 8/23/2025. We also look at developments on the Flat, Garnet, Emigrant, and other fires. Also, there is a lot of wild weather going on across the West.8/25/2025 - 19:25hrs.
Garnet Fire Blowup The Lookout 2025-08-25 | Images courtesy of Alert CaliforniaThanks for supporting The Lookout! We are viewer-supported. Become a PayPal subscriber at the-lookout.org/donate
Flat Fire - 8/24/2025 The Lookout 2025-08-25 | The Flat Fire is burning on the outskirts of Sisters, Oregon, NW of Bend. The fire made large runs, yesterday, but on webcam footage, it appears to have been fairly quiet today. We look at infrared mapping of the fire from last night, and satellite heat imagery from today at noon.8/24/2025 - 8:30 pm.Cover photo: Flat Fire Facebook info page.
Pickett Fire Action - 8/23/2025 The Lookout 2025-08-24 | Lookout correspondent Michael Steinberg, aka @Norcal Stormchasing and Pyrogeography sent us these videos today, shot on the Pickett Fire. Updated analysis on The Lookout. the-lookout.org/2025/08/23/active-evening-on-the-pickett-fire-8-23-2025
Pickett Fire and Prescribed Burn Associations - 8/22/2025 The Lookout 2025-08-23 | The Pickett Fire is burning north of Calistoga, California, in Napa County, to the east of Highway 29. This fire is burning in the 2020 Glass Fire scar. The fire has been slowly waking up, throughout the day. As of about 4:30pm, the smoke inversion that was suppressing fire behavior for most of the day had pretty much cleared out, and the fire has made some runs since then. 6:45pm, 8/22/2025We also talk about Prescribed Burn Associations - volunteer groups that are using fire to reduce hazards around communities. calpba.org
LA Fire Hazards - Danger in Plain Sight - Episode 4 The Lookout 2025-08-22 | 'Palisades'In May of 2025, we headed to Los Angeles for a week and rode e-bikes around, looking at the recent fire areas and checking out wildfire hazards across the edges of the City with a few of our most-experienced wildland firefighter/fire behavior analysts friends. We were there to try to make sense of the recent fires, and to share lessons we've learned across several careers spent working on large fires in California.This is the fourth of our five-part 'Danger in Plain Sight' series.In this episode, we travel to Pacific Palisades to look at how the January 2025 fire rampaged through this city, and to talk about the folly of rebuilding the exact same urban footprint, in direct antagonism to the ever-present Santa Ana winds, which are funneled directly into the city by east-west-trending canyons in the hills above.We look at the amazing vegetation recovery in the burned wildlands, just 5 months after the fire, and visit burned neighborhoods.This episode is sponsored by Burn Bot.Our series notes are posted here, on The Lookout website:https://the-lookout.org/danger-in-pla...Thanks to our series sponsors:BurnBot-- burnbot.comFire Aside-- fireaside.comFYREBX - http://fyrebx.comDanko Meredith-- dankolaw.comAventon--aventon.comThanks for supporting The Lookout! We are viewer-supported. You can buy Lookout merch here:ko-fi.com/thelookout/shopBecome a PayPal subscriber at the-lookout.org/donate
Pyro-geography of the Wine Country and Pickett Fire Initial Attack - 8/21/2025 The Lookout 2025-08-22 | The Pickett Fire is burning north of Calistoga, California, in Napa County, to the east of Highway 29. This fire is burning in the 2020 Glass Fire scar.In this broadcast, we follow live intel from the first day of the fire, and tell stories about the fire ecology and history of wildfires in the Wine Country. A summary of this video is available at: the-lookout.org/2025/08/21/pickett-fire-near-calistoga-8-21-2025
Morning Update - Coyote Fire - 8/21/2025 The Lookout 2025-08-21 | The Coyote Fire is burning in El Dorado County, between Mt. Aukum and Lockwood. We don't have a lot of new intel yet, this morning, waiting on an IR flight.
Pyro-Geography of Eldorado County, and Coyote Fire Initial Attack - 8/20/2025 The Lookout 2025-08-21 | We take an extended look at the unfolding of the Coyote Fire, in El Dorado County, California, and talk about the fire ecology and history of large wildfires in the North-Central Sierra Nevada Mountains, in this 3 hour+ livestream.**** Update 8/21/2025After a romping start, which was happening while we were making this broadcast, this fire laid down overnight, and firefighters appear to have knocked the snot out of it. As of 1:30pm on 8/21/2025, the fire no longer appears to pose much of a threat.The Coyote Fire is burning in El Dorado County, between Mt. Aukum and Lockwood. It is moving upcanyon, to the east. 15:49hrs.Maps and a summary of this long video on The Lookout website:the-lookout.org/2025/08/20/coyote-fire-initial-attack-8-20-2025
Style vs Survival, in Berkeley, California The Lookout 2025-08-20 | In this episode, we talk with Sheryl Drinkwater, an architect working at the intersection of design and wildfire, in the Bay Area. We talked about new wildfire regulations recently adopted for portions of the Berkeley Hills which are among the most stringent in the nation - they require homeowners to maintain the first five feet out from their house free of combustible materials. The new Berkeley code is based on regulations being developed by the California State Board of Forestry, which will likely apply to all high fire hazard areas across the State. The BOF has a deadline of December 2025 to finish developing these regulations. We also talked about working in disaster zones, and a need to develop new aesthetic visions for what the classic California home should look like, if it is to survive inevitable wildfires.Please watch our video series DANGER IN PLAIN SIGHT. Here's the playlist: youtube.com/watch?v=rHW8W8AEMhA&list=PLhM9lgdfXk1o-fRGipOHX3qNWXfEZu2fDThanks to our sponsors:WATERAX--waterax.com/en/homeQTAC--qtacfire.comFYREBX--fyrebx.comInterested in supporting THE LOOKOUT? check out our merch: ko-fi.com/thelookout/shopand here's a link to our website: the-lookout.orgThanks for supporting The Lookout! We are viewer-supported. Become a PayPal subscriber at the-lookout.org/donate
Gifford Wrapup, and Biking in LA - 8/15/2025 The Lookout 2025-08-16 | We talk about our Lookout in LA tour, and geek out on some fire effects from space.
LA Fire Hazards - Danger in Plain Sight - Episode 3 The Lookout 2025-08-15 | 'Home Hardening'In May of 2025, we headed to Los Angeles for a week and rode e-bikes around, looking at the recent fire areas and checking out wildfire hazards across the edges of the City with a few of our most-experienced wildland firefighter/fire behavior analysts friends. We were there to try to make sense of the recent fires, and to share lessons we've learned across several careers spent working on large fires in California.This is the third of our five-part 'Danger in Plain Sight' series.In this episode, we look at wildfire hazards in the neighborhood around our vacation rental, in Hollywoodland, right below the Hollywood sign, in Los Angeles.We talk about why it is important to cut back dense brush adjacent to homes, and about the importance of treating landscaping plants as if they were flammable brush.In the second half of the episode, we do a detailed inspection of the home, and areas directly around it, and share tips with the homeowner on the small things they can do to reduce the likelihood of their place catching on fire during a wildfire event.This episode features home inspection software from our sponsor, Fire Aside.Our series notes are posted here, on The Lookout website:https://the-lookout.org/danger-in-pla...Thanks to our sponsors:BurnBot-- burnbot.comFire Aside-- fireaside.comFYREBX - http://fyrebx.comDanko Meredith-- dankolaw.comAventon--aventon.comThanks for supporting The Lookout! We are viewer-supported. You can buy Lookout merch here:ko-fi.com/thelookout/shopBecome a PayPal subscriber at the-lookout.org/donate
The Dragon is Loose - Gifford Fire - 8/13/2025 The Lookout 2025-08-14 | Firing operations have been underway on the north end of the Gifford Fire, east of San Luis Obispo, California, in some fashion or another for about 36 hours. Today the fire is doing what it will with all of that energy, and has pushed over firelines in a couple spots. We are headed into cooler weather in the next few days, and firefighters are still not in terrible shape to catch the spots and slopovers, as it stands, right now, but the situation is very dynamic, and we have still have some active burning ahead of us this evening.
Gifford Fire and Fire Hazards of the Rich and Famous - 8/12/2025 The Lookout 2025-08-13 | Daily update for the Gifford Fire, burning east of Santa Maria, California, in the Garcia Wilderness.We also take a map tour of fire hazards in Beverly Hills, Marin County, and the rest of the Bay Area, and talk about learning to recognize wildfire hazards hidden in plain sight.Check out our new LA Fire series:youtu.be/MCeV9L8O-Fc
Eventful Day on the Gifford Fire - 8/11/2025 The Lookout 2025-08-12 | The Gifford Fire is burning east of Santa Maria, California, on the NE corner of the San Rafael Wilderness. We talk about the firing operations tactics, and potential outcomes.Cover photo: Los Padres National ForestCheck out our new LA fire hazards series: youtu.be/MCeV9L8O-Fc
