As my wife and I begin building our home in rural Montana, wildfire resilience has been central to our planning. Rather than sift through AI-generated misinformation online, I’ve been turning to This Is Wildfire: How to Protect Yourself, Your Home, and Your Community in the Age of Heat. 

Written by award-winning environmental journalist and podcast producer Nick Mott and University of Montana business professor Justin Angle, this book goes beyond a simple homeowner’s guide. It unpacks how we arrived in the age of megafires, navigates the tangled world of fire policy and science, and offers practical solutions for living in a fire-prone world. When it comes to safeguarding your home, This Is Wildfire compiles the latest best practices – including simple, low-tech steps – and even helps prioritize what matters most.

At its core, the book reconciles two competing narratives about fire. “One story is about the destruction wrought by the flames: the acres burned, what it has meant to human life and property,” Mott and Angle write. “The other story is about fire’s [often beneficial] impact on the ecosystem.” 

Thanks to insightful resources like This Is Wildfire, a more nuanced understanding of fire is spreading… like wildfire.