Welcome to Living with Wildfire: Voices from Butte County, a community radio series from the Butte County Fire Safe Council and KZFR 90.1, digging into fire, forests, and the shared responsibility it takes to thrive in a fire-adapted landscape. Featuring Kiara Heacock, Community Education Manager with the Butte County Fire Safe Council, and Thad Walker of the Butte County Resource Conservation District, Greg Williams of Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship, and Dan Efseaff of Paradise Recreation and Park District to talk about the intersection of recreation,
community, forest health, and wildfire resilience.

Forest health is at the backbone of wildfire resilience, before a fire and long after one. Host Madi Daniels, Assistant Director of Forest Health at the Butte County Fire Safe Council, sits down with registered professional foresters Kieran O'Leary of Top Notch Forestry and Cameron Musser of Sierra Cascade Land Stewards. They talk through what a healthy, fire-adapted forest looks like, how foresters choose the tools they reach for on overstocked and post-fire ground, and where a landowner can start.

Host: Madi Daniels, Assistant Director of Forest Health, Butte County Fire Safe Council (BCFSC)

Guests: Kieran O'Leary, Registered Professional Forester, Top Notch Forestry; Cameron Musser, Registered Professional Forester, Sierra Cascade Land Stewards

Living well with fire starts with understanding the landscape itself: how it has burned, how it has been shaped, and how we plan for a future that holds fire well. Host Taylor Nilsson, Executive Director of the Butte County Fire Safe Council, is joined by pyro-geographer Zeke Lunder of The Lookout and fire ecologist Robin Wills, BCFSC Board Member. They dig into the region's fire history, how land use and ownership shape the way fire moves, and where prescribed fire fits, and what keeps us from using more of it.

Host:
Taylor Nilsson, Executive Director, Butte County Fire Safe Council (BCFSC)

Guests:
Zeke Lunder, Pyro-geographer, The Lookout
Robin Wills, Fire Ecologist, BCFSC Board Member

Concow/Yankee Hill carries a long, layered history and the weight of repeated fire. Host Taylor Nilsson, Executive Director of the Butte County Fire Safe Council, is joined by Matthew S. Williford Sr. of the Konkow Valley Band of Maidu Indians, Concow landowner Peggy Moak, and Brenda Rightmyer of the Yankee Hill Fire Safe Council. They speak to what it has meant to live through fire here, and the neighbor-to-neighbor resilience that carries these foothill communities through recovery.

Host: Taylor Nilsson, Executive Director, BCFSC

Guests: Matthew S. Williford Sr · Peggy Moak · Brenda Rightmyer

This episode highlights Paradise’s rebuilding journey and how neighbors are taking wildfire safety into their own hands through Firewise USA, tackling insurance challenges, and setting a national example for fire-adapted communities.

On this episode of Living With Wildfire, we explore how grazing cooperatives are reducing wildfire risk and strengthening communities. Sarah Jo McDowell and Sarah Keiser share how goats, sheep, and cattle are being used to manage vegetation, improve soil health, and build resilience. Listeners will also learn about the Butte County Fire Safe Council’s Annual Paradise Grazing Festival and its role in showcasing these innovative practices.

This episode explores how the Butte Prescribed Burn Association (PBA) is reshaping our relationship with fire through the innovative “neighbors helping neighbors” model. Together, community members are learning to use good fire as a tool for healing the land, easing trauma, and building resilience. Featured voices include Taylor Nilsson, Executive Director of the Butte County Fire Safe Council; Wolfy Rougle, Planning & Watershed Program Manager at the Butte County Resource Conservation District; and Dallas Koller, Fire Program Manager at the Butte County Resource Conservation District. The conversation covers prescribed fire, land stewardship, community-led fire resilience, and how collaboration is transforming wildfire preparedness in Butte County.

In the premiere episode of Living With Wildfire: Voices from Butte County, host Calli-Jane West sits down with long-time board member and former Paradise Fire Chief Jim Broshears to explore the origins of the Butte County Fire Safe Council and the county’s wildfire history. From the lessons of the 1991 Oakland Hills Fire to the sweeping changes after the 2018 Camp Fire, they trace how community-led wildfire preparedness has evolved—from early fuel breaks to today’s landscape-level projects, prescribed burning, and Firewise communities. Together, they discuss how a deep connection to the land, proactive home hardening, and neighbor-to-neighbor collaboration are shaping a safer, more resilient Butte County.