Speaker Series: Lessons Learned from the Steep Rock Fire, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026

2026 Winter Speaker Series

January 15, 6-7PM
Good Fire, Bad Fire, Not All Fires Are an Emergency — Lessons Learned from the Steep Rock Fire – With Michael Kronick, Forest Fire Control Officer, Western District, CT Department of Energy & Environmental Protection

Join us for the first talk in Steep Rock’s 2026 Winter Speaker Series as Michael Kronick, Forest Fire Control Officer for the Western District of the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP), shares his firsthand insight into fire management and ecology in Connecticut’s forests.

Drawing on his leadership role during the 2025 Steep Rock Fire, Michael will explore the complexities of wildfire response, the ecological role of fire, and the lessons learned from managing fire in a changing climate. Using his firsthand insight into fire management and ecology in Connecticut’s forests, he will share how fire can be both a destructive force and a natural process essential to healthy forest ecosystems.

As a Forest Fire Control Officer, Michael Kronick, an Army veteran and former firefighter and fire chief, trains and assists firefighters for local response and to assist the U.S. Forest Service in controlling large fires across the nation. Kronick has been on several national wildfire deployments in the West as a member of the Connecticut Interstate Fire Crew.

This is a free virtual event, Registration required – Zoom link to be provided via email upon registration.

➡️REGISTER NOW