EPH, Estes Park featured in new United by Fire podcast

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Ten-part series addresses living with wildfire in a warming world

The Institute for Science & Policy at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science is addressing an important issue for all Coloradans: living with wildfire in a warming world.

Season 4 of the award-winning podcast Laws of Notion launched this month. United by Fire is a ten-part series using in-depth interviews and storytelling to explore the catastrophic 2020 wildfire season.

Estes Valley residents know all too well how the East Troublesome and Cameron Peak Fires tore through Colorado and, as the producer of the podcast put it, “challenged what we thought we knew about wildfire behavior.

Along with residents, firefighters, ecologist, land managers, community planners and entrepreneurs, the podcast producers also interview Estes Park Health CEO Vern Carda about his experience evacuating the hospital on the fateful day all the Estes Valley had to leave, not knowing what their homes would look like when they returned.

A man and a woman sit at a table with glasses of red wine. They are smiling and have name badges. The table is in front of a window with greenery outside.

Jän and Wendy Rigby are two of the local residents interviewed for the podcast. (Photo by EPH)

“Including Estes Park Health helps highlight the intersection of multiple crises – catastrophic wildfires amidst the COVID-19 pandemic – and how that stretches healthcare resources to the limit, especially in a small mountain community,” explained Kristan Uhlenbrock, Executive Director, The Institute for Science & Policy and host of the podcast. “Their story captures the resilience of a community to take care of one another during extreme circumstances.”

EPH and local Estes Park residents are featured in episode three of United by Fire which goes live on Oct. 23rd.

You can listen to the podcast on these platforms:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/laws-of-notion/id1592564134

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5tgmzeITAZkFr3T7dh2hoW?si=38d5bf9a09964dc7&nd=1

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/fee87e36-80f4-4203-b2fa-d7a0e27aca33/laws-of-notion

Learn more about this season’s podcast at https://Institute.dmns.org/united-by-fire.

A man and woman sitting together at a table during an event. They are wearing name tags, and there are plates of food and drinks in front of them. Other attendees and tables are in the background.

Jim & Annie Boyd of Glen Haven are two of the local residents interviewed for the podcast. (Photo by EPH)

Estes Park Health’s story provided a small window providing a view into the larger issues sparked by the extraordinary 2020 Colorado wildfire season.

“Our approach to the podcast centers on including community voices and experiences, while weaving together the science, policy, and elements of our human nature to examine critical issues facing our state,” Uhlenbrock said. “The challenges faced by Estes Park Health during the East Troublesome Fire illustrate the difficulty of making decisions once a fire is knocking on your front door.”

New episodes of United by Fire are released weekly.

A photo of a snowy, forested landscape on an easel in a room, with a winding road visible.

The launch party for the podcast held at the Denver Museum of Science & Nature included striking photographs from the East Troublesome Fire. (Photo by EPH)