What goes into planning a week-long TREX for 60 participants? How do we choose which sites to burn? How do shifting weather conditions shape each day on the fire line?

In this new episode of Prairie Fire Lines, we unpack these questions and more through a reflection on the 2025 Canadian Prairies TREX, held in Saskatoon from October 20–24, 2025.

Cat brings together TREX Incident Commander Renny Grilz, Planning Chief Roy Vera-Velez, Operations Chief Kerry Hecker, and trainers Brad Elder, Melanie Schmidt, and Ryan Schmidt for a deep-dive Zoom conversation about how TREX unfolded - from early planning to the final day of burning.

Tune in for an inside look at what it takes to organize a prescribed fire training exchange in the heart of our prairie grasslands.

In this episode, Cat hops on a Zoom call with Kody Wohlers of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation to talk about his role as a fire steward in the Loess Hills - and the important role he plays in training up new and experienced fire practitioners at TREX and cooperative burn weeks.

In October 2023, Matt Shanklin of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources recorded two podcast episodes that captured the 2023 Canadian Prairies TREX from start to finish...but they were never released. Now, we’re bringing them to you on Prairie Fire Lines.

In Part 2, Shanklin and Kody Wohlers (Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation) are on the drive home to Iowa from Saskatchewan after serving as trainers for the TREX. They talk to Renny Grilz (Meewasin) all about how it went and how they could improve for future TREX programs.