A Country Worth Burning: Inside the NASA FireSense Project
Wildfire is reshaping America. The defining question is no longer simply how we stop fire. It is how we learn to live with it.
Join the Red Sky community for an exclusive screening of A Country Worth Burning, a new feature documentary filmed inside the NASA FireSense project and one of the largest coordinated wildfire science experiments ever conducted. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with top experts.
This event is sponsored by Watch Duty and Pacific Gas & Electric, who are co-hosts along with Red Sky and Fire Safe People Productions.
Tickets for this exclusive event are limited, so only register if you are certain you will attend.
Watch the official trailer on Fire Safe People TV on YouTube here:
DESCRIPTION
For the first time, cameras embed with NASA scientists, U.S. Army burn bosses, firefighters, pilots and some of the world’s leading fire researchers as they use satellites, aircraft, drones, field sensors, prescribed fire and next-generation modeling to understand how fire moves, how embers are generated and how communities can survive a hotter, more fire-prone future.
Combining breathtaking cinematography, intimate human stories and cutting-edge science, A Country Worth Burning challenges the century-old war on wildfire and offers a more hopeful path: using fire to care for the land, preparing communities for the fires that will come, and replacing reaction with knowledge, stewardship and action.
POST-SCREENING CONVERSATION
Following the film, director and producer Ralph Bloemers will moderate a live conversation with four nationally recognized leaders in wildfire science, technology, prescribed fire, fire weather and emergency management:
Anne Jewell. Program Manager for Fire & Emergency Management Programs within the U.S. Department of Defense, where she supports wildland fire management and prescribed fire across military installations. Her work connects mission readiness, installation resilience, interagency coordination, and environmental stewardship.
Aaron J. Piña, Ph.D., National Program Leader for Atmospheric Sciences and Fire Weather Research at the USDA Forest Service.
J. Kevin Hiers. One of the nation’s leading prescribed-fire scientists and practitioners, with nearly three decades of experience connecting fire ecology, conservation, land management and operational burning.
Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, former United States Fire Administrator and one of the country’s most influential leaders in fire-service research, data, public safety and national fire policy.
Michael J. Falkowski, Ph.D., Lead Scientist at Earth Fire Alliance, former NASA Wildland Fire Program Manager and former leader of NASA’s FireSense initiative.
Together, they will explore what NASA FireSense is discovering; how prescribed fire can restore landscapes; how weather and drought drive extreme fires; how satellites, AI and FireSat can improve detection and response; and what it will take to move promising science and technology into everyday operations.
EVENT DETAILS
Thursday, November 5, 2026
6:00–8:30 p.m.
Apple Cinemas Van Ness IMAX
1000 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, California
The screening will be presented in a state-of-the-art cinema. Concessions will be available, and parking is located inside the building.
Attendance is complimentary, but the theater is limited to 153 guests. Advance registration is required.
This is a private Resilience Week event for Red Sky Summit attendees and invited guests.
CREDITS
Directed by Ralph Bloemers
Narrated by Bill Kurtis
Cinematography by Connor Nelson
Shot by Michael Sherman
Edited by Samuel Ruesink