October is Fire Prevention Month!
While many of the month’s activities are focused on what you can do to prevent fires at home (check your smoke detectors and change your batteries!), Fire Prevention Month is also a great time to highlight just a few of the many people working in fire prevention.
Fire Careers Collector Card Pack
Looking for more about fire careers? These fire prevention specialists and many others are featured in our fire careers collector card pack! Learn more about fire ecologists, fuels technicians, air support personnel, firefighters, & more in this 24-card pack.
Olivia-Iniabi Collette, Wildfire Prevention Officer
At an early age, Olivia-Iniabi Collette was inspired by Deanne Shulman, the first female smokejumper and one of the first women to serve on hotshot and rappel crews. This inspiration motivated her to pursue employment opportunities with engines, hand crews, helicopter rappel teams, and hotshot crews before discovering her passion for wildfire prevention and investigation.
- Graduate, National Wildland Firefighter Apprentice Academy
- USDA Forest Service
- A wildfire prevention officer connects with the public and local partners to spread awareness on how to prevent human-caused wildfire.
Jacob Gear, Regional Fire Prevention Coordinator
According to Jacob Gear, one of the important things he’s learned about wildland fires is “money spent upfront on prevention and mitigation is better than on fire suppression. Studies have shown that every dollar spent on prevention and mitigation can save anywhere from $4 to $32 depending on the location. Studies can’t account for the true losses.”
- Humboldt State University
- USDA Forest Service
- A regional wildfire prevention coordinator works with many stakeholders on things such as industrial fire restrictions, public use restrictions, fire prevention messaging, and education.
Alexa Scanlan, Prevention Technician
One of the things that Alexa Scanlan has learned on the job is that “there is no one solution or answer when it comes to fighting wildland fires. Different fuels, topography, and weather will make a 1-acre fire in one location completely different than a 1-acre fire in another location, or the same location on a different day.”
- B.A., MNR, University of Idaho
- USDA Forest Service
- A prevention technician shares information with the public about our forests and how to prevent fires.
Smokey Bear, Wildfire Prevention Specialist
The most famous name in fire prevention, Smokey Bear has been a wildfire prevention specialist and educator since 1944. As he explains, “During World War II, wood was an important resource. Wildfires used money and people to fight them and burned valuable timber. In 1944, the Forest Service made me the ‘spokesbear’ for wildfire prevention. My message is still relevant because more people are living close to wildlands. We need to protect people, homes, communities, wildlife, and the surrounding habitats.”
- USDA Forest Service
- A wildfire prevention specialist raises public awareness about how human behavior can accidentally cause a wildfire.
Fire Resources
Looking for more on fire? Browse our list of fire-related monographs, journals, readers, and more.
