Amanda Monthei, writer and hotshot, has researched and written “The Women Before Me,” a compelling and informative piece on the women who served on the Zigzag Hotshot Crew before her, that is now featured in her Blog.

Excerpt:

“I set out to learn more about the women before me, about the seemingly insurmountable pushback they faced, the harassment and sexism and anger that met them as they became some of the first women to pursue careers as hotshots. But it wasn’t just hardship that they talked about—far from it. They told me about how hotshotting had changed them, or in some cases how their life experiences before and after hotshotting were far more formative—that fighting fire was just another stepping stone in a life well-lived. They talked about the relationships they formed, about the fires they worked, about the shifts they’ll never forget, and the funny moments that tend to fill the cracks of summers spent working hard with the same 20 people.”

A former assistant editor for and current contributing writer to The Ski Journal and The Flyfish Journal, we are fortunate to have Amanda in the wildland fire service.

To read her entire Blog piece: “The Women Before Me”.