Connection

Family

Education

Awareness

While Brent maintains a strong dedication to translating his published scientific research to raise awareness of the unique health and safety issues faced by wildland firefighters, he wanted to pursue other avenues to connect with crews and their families.  Long assignments and unpredictable schedules are difficult for crewmembers with young families.  Brent and his wife Jo raised two children throughout Brent’s entire research career chasing down samples from wildland firefighters.   

The main characters of the Missoula Hot dogs are based on a couple of border collies (Wrango and Banjo, Brent’s dogs).  Watching them work their way over and around the Missoula mountains herding invisible sheep and playing together gave Brent the idea for this story series.  

Reading to a child can melt away distance and foster communication, compassion, connection and relationship.  The goal of this project is to provide an avenue for parents and their children to better understand the world of the wildland firefighter and how it provides an excellent model of teamwork, friendship and commitment to a noble cause.  Moreover, this project series hopes to serve as a unique platform to translate Brent’s research career into an artistic expression of science and service to ultimately raise awareness of wildfire safety while appreciating the magnificent work these crews accomplish every fire season.