Murphy Woodhouse
Idaho Reporter, Mountain West News BureauExpertise: Audio production, field reporting, photography, wildfire policy
Education: University of Montana + University of Arizona
Highlights
- I’m fluent in Spanish and love putting Spanish on the air
- I’m an all-conditions bike commuter and e-bike evangelist – EVERY day is a good day to ride
- I’ve seen two total solar eclipses, and intend to see many more before I die
Experience
I joined Boise State Public Radio and the Mountain West News Bureau (MWNB) in April 2023 after about a decade working as a print and radio reporter on both sides of the Arizona-Sonora border. Most recently I was based in the Sonoran capital Hermosillo working for the Phoenix NPR affiliate KJZZ. At the MWNB, I’ve tried to leverage my past experience as a wildland firefighter to provide listeners with informed coverage of a number of key issues in wildland fire. I’m especially interested in efforts to improve the famously challenging and dangerous working conditions on the fireline.
I’ve been a news photographer for a number of years now, but have more recently decided to really hone my skills. As a part of that, I try to have a camera on me whenever I’m out and about. I love sharing images that capture something essential about wherever I’m shooting, like young folks flinging themselves off the Greenbelt truss bridge last summer or car lights stretching along Highway 28 as meteors streak overhead in the lonely Lemhi Valley.
Email: Trail tips? Story tips? Know a secret the public ought to hear? Drop me a line!
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The publication covers common fireline terminology, handling relationships and childcare during the long summer months and how to support firefighters reintegrating to family life once the season slows down. -
After DEI programs end at public land agencies, some wildland firefighters band together to create more inclusion. -
This year’s already strong El Niño is strengthening, a trend with potentially significant implications for the intense – and now tragic – fire season. -
Firefighters will now be able to use N95 masks on the fireline – building on a more limited, voluntary rollout of masking that started last fall. There will also be expanded access to showers, time for routine gear cleaning and so-called “clean air recovery periods” that can limit other risks. -
Following the burnover deaths of three wildland firefighters near the Utah-Colorado border last weekend, a top federal fire official has strong words of warning ahead of Independence Day – the single biggest day for human-started fires. -
Low morale, staffing woes and health worries are among the top issues shared by hundreds of federal wildland firefighters who responded. -
Wildland firefighters face extreme conditions. For those who identify as LGBTQ, there are challenges beyond the fireline. This Pride Month, the Mountain West News Bureau reports on how that community is responding.
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Three wildland firefighters were killed near the Colorado-Utah state line and two more were injured as crews continue to battle dozens of wildfires in the western U.S. and beyond. -
Around 2,000 structures are at risk in several states in the Mountain West region as some 2,100 firefighters battle almost two-dozen wildfires across Utah, Nevada, and Idaho, fire officials say. -
The Cross-Boundary Wildfire Solutions Act is fairly simple: it directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study obstacles to conducting wildfire mitigation projects on land with multiple owners or jurisdictions. Within two years, the GAO is expected to share its report and recommendations.
