Editor’s note: Laurel Kays is the manager of the Fire Learning Network. She recently organized and hosted the Talking Fire webinar series with Fire Networks communications lead James Miller. In this blog, Laurel shares some of the key takeaways from the webinar series, as well as links to each webinar recording for further reference.

We held the Fire Learning Network (FLN) annual workshop in the snowy Blackfoot Valley of Montana last October. It was – like all our workshops – a week full of learning, relationship building, and evening Jenga games. Of the many things that came from that workshop, one clear ask was for help in communicating with and through the media. Years of escalating, destructive wildfires, billions of dollars in federal investments, and a growing recognition that the Western European enforced fire paradigm has failed have led to increasing media interest in our work. Fire practitioners, particularly our forward thinking FLN leaders and other Fire Networks members, are being called on more and more to do this communication while feeling they are not properly equipped to do so.

Enter the Talking Fire webinar series. We organized this series of discussions to share lessons learned from journalists, communication professionals, and fire practitioners with significant communication experience. The result was four and a half hours of engaging, thoughtful conversation that you can watch on demand on the Fire Learning Network YouTube channel.

These events were not definitive lists of exactly how to work with and through the media – there is unfortunately no such thing. However the experiences and information shared provide valuable learning for those working on this type of communication both from a fire practitioner and communication professional angle. 

If you are – like all of us – short on time, and watching three 1 ½ hour webinars will need to wait, we would like to share some key takeaways from this learning series:

• Things look different from the other side – During our first webinar, the three journalists on the panel shared that a major frustration for them in covering wildfires is gaining access to those sites both during and after active incidents, including the legal considerations that govern their ability to do so. As a prescribed fire practitioner, this was genuinely not an issue I had ever heard of, despite the fact that it is clearly a primary concern for the journalists we spoke with. This speaks to the fact that communication between fire practitioners of all kinds, journalists, and communication professionals like PIOs is essential to understand the issues each see in working together to craft accurate, impactful stories.

• Time is a limiting factor – Throughout our conversations, nearly all panelists referenced that everything from day-to-day job duties to planning for future crises is limited by time. We are all too busy, and finding ways to incorporate this work in a way that is integrated into normal schedules can help it get done and prevent practitioners from feeling overwhelmed by yet another thing on their plate. 

• Focusing on failure and needs is easy, talking about success and progress is hard and essential – This is not to say that we shouldn’t validate how hard communication and working with the media can be. Acknowledging when things are hard and taking time to understand fails is critical. But as a broad fire community we are hard on ourselves. It is also crucial to highlight successes, particularly ones that have enabled concrete, positive change. Here’s an example. 

• This is a long-term effort – As with all our fire work, it took us a long time to get here. The idea that fire is a destructive, uncontrolled disaster has been in circulation since the earliest days of European colonization of the Americas.This has been supported by intentional communication efforts like Smokey Bear and the Dixie Crusaders. It took us centuries to get where we are. We need to grant ourselves grace and patience as we work to change this narrative.

• Perspectives from outside the fire world bring important context – The participation of panelists like our first panel of journalists, Bob Crimian (from COMPASS Science Communication), and Brigette Coleman-Williams (from The Nature Conservancy), who do not come from a fire background, brought important perspective and reminders that we can learn from those working in related fields. We aren’t necessarily unique in the issues we face.

• To get better, you have to practice – Many questions about how to improve communication skills share a similar answer: practice. Communication, especially with the media can be intimidating, and preparation is absolutely important. But at the end of the day, the best way to get better at something is to do the thing.

Watch the full recordings from the webinar series here:

• Learning from the Media: A Conversation with Journalists 
• Working with the Media: How to Know Your Messages and Communicate Them 
• Crisis Communication: What Do We Say When Things Go Wrong? 

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