This website is the official online base camp for the annual Wildfire Heroes Special Event Station. This SES is a multiple day global radio event designed to recognize, commemorate and memorialize the efforts of all of those individuals who – in the wildlands of western North America – actively prevent wildfires and battle the fires that do start, regardless of their prevention efforts.
The history is simple. I began as a volunteer firefighter/EMT in the early 1990’s and continue to do “my part” to be responsible for my own actions relative to preventing wildfires and educating others to do the same. It became obvious to me many years ago that there was a significant lack of widespread respect and genuine appreciation for the actions of those individuals who give of their lives to preserve and protect the lands and people of the western United States from wildfire. These folks deserve recognition and our ongoing immense gratitude so I chose to pick up the reins and begin an annual global radio event to thank those who give of themselves to help to ensure a decent quality of life in this regard. We also press toward the goal of educating the public about not only the efforts of these “heroes” but also regarding our role in appreciating the beauty of the west and the importance of taking the potential for wildfire seriously.
The first “widely publicized” WH SES occurred in July of 2020 in the Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest, though in 2019 I did an ad-hoc version on a local 2 meter FM repeater and FM simplex since we had a team of wildland firefighters in our area and I wanted to bring attention to their deployment and thank them for their service. It is the ongoing effort of myself and a handpicked team to make the message of appreciation for wildfire prevention and wildfire protection known annually. We do this while operating with FCC licensed amateur radio operators in the public wildlands of the western United States every year with a special event station and proper equipment. We also endeavor to do these things in face-to-face contacts whenever we are in the proper venue and we support the efforts of public agencies, associated non-profits and private enterprise to the same end – eliminating and/or curtailing wildfires. We do this year-round. Thank you for your participation and partnership in acknowledging the vital role of wildland fire suppression!
Jason/K7ETB
I have personally created this website. For all work that I created as presented on this website, it is copyrighted (©2022) and not in the public domain – expect for that which is already copyrighted by another person or entity. The work(s) found on this website may not be used freely without consent from myself and I will require your approved access to reproduce. Thank you for your understanding. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.