Ariel Strong Email & Phone Number

When my elderly mother's home was threatened by wildfire in 2021, I had a wakeup call. She was upwind of rapidly growing wildfire–on "Set" status, ready to evacuate–when she sent me a picture of the rising column of smoke. Sitting behind my work computer, and a three-hour drive away, I was helpless to do anything to assist. That day led me to make a major career change. I realized my earlier background as a wildland firefighter might be combined with my software engineering experience and leadership skills to make a difference in we deal with wildfire risk. I wanted to change how people prepare their families, homes, and businesses for fire, to prevent and mitigate loss and damage–to create fire resilient communities. The question was how. I set out on a quest to figure out how I would move from the field of healthcare data and analytics, back into the world of wildland fire. This time, I would use my fire science training and firefighting experience to assess risk and prevent fire, rather than to suppress fire after it had already begun.I studied drone technology, geospatial data and analysis, and how to build climate resilience; I practiced my piloting skills and talked with people in across a number of related fields. And in July of 2023, I officially launched Fireflight, LLC, https://www.fireflight.pro.

Listed skills include Leadership, Team Building, Web Development, Project Management, and 35 others.