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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Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho and Wyoming have no statewide wildfire building codes. Colorado adopted a code last year, with enforcement expected to begin this year. Most other Western states are somewhere in between. -
At night, temperatures are often cooler and the air is wetter, which gives wildland firefighters a long window to make up significant ground when trying to suppress blazes. But that pattern is breaking down, a trend driven by human-caused climate change, according to a new study. -
Growth has been strong over the last year despite a great deal of uncertainty last spring over the future of the ambitious effort. -
One of the studies found that over seven recent years, U.S. Forest Service projects helped communities avoid $2.8 billion in fire-related harm. -
Insurance regulation is complex, in part, because it’s done state-by-state, meaning there are dozens of different schemes across the country. -
“Suppression is always going to be there,” Chief Brian Fennessy told the Mountain West News Bureau. “But we're not going to suppress our way out of this situation.” -
When wildland firefighters are on prescribed fires, they’re breathing the same smoke and facing many of the same hazards found on wildfires, but they don’t get the same hazard pay. That could soon change. -
The monthly National Interagency Fire Center outlooks are typically staid documents, providing just-the-facts analysis. But the latest is superlative-laden as it describes record-low snowpacks, record-early snow melt and record-high temperatures. -
In recent years, concerns among the workforce about health risks of all kinds have been getting louder. And mental health is no exception. -
Statehouses across the West are considering reforms to respond to the homeowners insurance crisis. While some are hitting headwinds, concern about the issue isn’t going away.
