The Palisades Fire swallowed homes and lives, reducing whole communities to smoke and rubble in the wake of this massive wildfire. But behind these horrific headlines, a different sort of history was being written—one most people never heard.

Ride alongside a brave group of everyday people sick of watching their city burn. They stayed behind firelines to save the place they call home. The Community Brigade is a first-of-its-kind experimental program training civilians to work alongside professional firefighters. During one of Los Angeles’ darkest hours, they came to their city’s aid. We dive into what that could mean for millions of people across the world who live in high-risk fire zones. As wildfires continue to break records and push past what we imagined possible, this podcast tackles one of today’s most pressing questions: is mass destruction inevitable or can there be a different ending to this story?

Credits

Host, Writer, Producer, Reporter, and Music Supervisor: Adriana Cargill. Editor: Sasa Woodruff. Story Editor: Adam Whitney Nichols. Fact-Checker: Audrey Regan. Music Composer: Marcelo de Oliveria. Music Arranger: Emma Munger. Theme Song: Medium Zach. Audio Engineer: Kathleen Yore. Graphic Design and Website Design: Talia Rochmann