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Sean and Charles are joined by Ash Seiter — captain and public information officer with the Lone Pine Fire Department in Inyo County, and vice chair of the California National Party — for an episode about who fights California's fires, who pays for it, and what happens when Washington stops showing up.
Ash explains why most American fire departments still run on volunteers, paid by the call or not at all, and how California's mutual-aid system sends small rural crews like his across the state. From there: federal land and federal fire policy, DOGE's cuts to the Forest Service and the North Rim fire, crews from Mexico and California's own air force, the State Guard, and seven days on the Palisades Fire — hurricane winds, failing hydrants and fires that rekindle. Closer to home, the fight to keep Lone Pine's hospital open, a "very purple" Inyo County, Los Angeles's hold on the Owens Valley, and the disconnect between rural and coastal California. Ash closes on why he thinks independence is now a matter of survival.
In this episode
- 00:40 — Ash's road to the CNP
- 03:10 — Fifteen years with Lone Pine Fire
- 04:20 — America's volunteer fire service
- 07:09 — Would volunteers rather be paid?
- 12:15 — Paid by the call
- 16:24 — Turnover, second jobs, and mutual aid through Cal OES
- 20:31 — Federal land and federal fires
- 24:42 — The North Rim, DOGE cuts, and life in fire camp
- 29:32 — CAL FIRE fills the federal gap; crews from Mexico and Australia
- 31:50 — California's air force, and the State Guard
- 34:17 — Seven days on the Palisades Fire: wind, hydrants, rekindles
- 41:43 — Governor for a day: prevention, aircraft and drones
- 46:05 — Is Washington the problem?
- 47:47 — Saving Southern Inyo Hospital
- 50:45 — One emergency system for all of California
- 52:47 — "Very purple" Inyo County
- 56:38 — Mutual aid, Big Sur, and the big earthquake
- 59:32 — Los Angeles and the Owens Valley
- 1:01:48 — El Niño, and the rural–coastal divide
- 1:06:56 — Why independence: "a necessity"
- 1:09:45 — Where to find Ash, and a food-recall bingo card
Guest: Ash Seiter — captain and public information officer, Lone Pine Fire Department; vice chair, California National Party. @ashseiter on Threads and elsewhere.
For a full review of the facts and sources quoted in the podcast, visit https://checkpointcalifornia.com/006/