Interview with Dinyar Minocher: Author of How Do Fires Protect Nature?
What was it like writing your first book?
“It was so much fun seeing my words turned into beautiful illustrations to help tell the story. My wife is a species-at-risk biologist, so we went through all the drawings together to make sure everything was ecologically accurate. The burrowing owl entrances have the right plants around them, the bird in the sky is a prairie species, and the flowers coming up after the fire are exactly what you’d expect to see emerging from the blackened forest floor.”
How did you take everything you’ve learned from your work and turn it into something that makes sense for kids?
“As with anything, you start with the fundamentals and go from there. I focused on the parts that are the most exciting—like how some animals rely on fire, or how seeds need heat to grow—because that’s where curiosity begins. I tried to strip away the technical language and just tell the story of how fire fits into nature, in a way that’s simple, visual, and true.”
What’s one of the most surprising or amazing things you’ve seen fire do in the natural world?
“I once responded to a wildfire that had started overnight from lightning in Grasslands National Park. The grass was dry, but humidity was high at night, so the fire behavior was calm and creeping. By the time we arrived, one entire side of the fire had stopped and gone out, completely blocked by a two-inch-wide cattle trail. That little dirt path, worn down by cows walking the same route to water, was enough to halt the fire. That same fire, under different conditions, could’ve burned 100 kilometers, but at that moment, it didn’t have the energy to cross two inches. It was an amazing lesson especially when I later started working with fire for ecosystem recovery, where the goal is to guide the fire, not just stop it.”
What’s one thing people often get wrong about fire in nature?
“Fire is not separate from nature. It doesn’t destroy nature—it is nature. Fire is as natural as kittens, trees, and ocean waves. We often think of it as sad or destructive, but it’s simply a natural process that allows life to begin again. Of course, it’s complicated, because we’ve built cities and homes, and no one wants to see those lost to fire. But maybe it’s more accurate to say fire isn’t bad, but sometimes unfortunate things happen because of it.”
What can kids do if they want to help take care of nature and the environment around them?
“It’s not about being perfect, it’s about doing the extra 1% whenever you can. Bring a bag with you on a hike and pick up a few pieces of garbage, for example. Every little bit helps.”
What’s the most important thing you hope young readers remember after reading your book?
“We are a part of nature too, even if we sometimes feel separate from it. We’ve changed the landscape in ways that have made wildfires more severe and habitat harder to find for many species, but if we’ve changed it once, that means we can change it again—and this time, make it better. We’re all part of the solution.”