Pressure of Truth
Exposing the spin on all sides of the news.
Outlet profile

The Hotshot Wakeup

U.S. wildland-fire industry trade

Owned byTim Casperson, independent creator and former wildland firefighter; no corporate or institutional owner
FundingReader-supported subscriptions via Substack (free and paid tiers); no advertising or government funding identified
On the administrationmixed

Background

Tim Casperson founded The Hotshot Wake Up in January 2022 after 12 years as a wildland firefighter, most recently as a hotshot crew supervisor and overhead. He launched it on Substack to fill what he described as an information gap for front-line fire personnel. The outlet grew quickly: by late 2022 it had roughly 5,700 free subscribers and 1,440 paid subscribers generating about $8,600 per month, and free subscribers surpassed 13,000 by 2023. A companion podcast, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, was added alongside the newsletter. The outlet remains independently owned with no known institutional backing. It publishes four to five times per week, covering fire season statistics, staffing levels, equipment, aviation, and federal fire policy. During the 2025 Los Angeles fires, Casperson used the platform to publicly debunk viral misinformation about the blazes, earning broader recognition as a credible industry voice. Under the Trump administration's second term, the outlet has reported both positively — on the proposed U.S. Wildland Fire Service and new wildfire budget proposals — and critically, covering DOGE-related staffing reductions, position cuts, and state-level budget depletion that left some fire agencies stretched thin entering the 2026 fire season.

Sources

  1. About - The Hotshot Wake Up (Substack)
  2. Grow: How word spread fast about The Hotshot Wake Up (Substack blog)
  3. Four Takeaways From an Ex-Firefighter Earning a Full-Time Income on Substack (Writing Cooperative)
  4. What's Going on With 2025 Fire Positions?: Hotshot Wakeup Reporting (The Smokey Wire)
  5. The 24 Hour Wildfire Suppression Rule Is Back... Idaho Says They Will Fight Fire On A Credit Card (The Hotshot Wake Up)
  6. New Presidential Budget Supports Forest Service Wildland Firefighter Unification With USWFS (The Hotshot Wake Up)
  7. Listener Numbers, Contacts, Similar Podcasts - The Hotshot Wake Up (Rephonic)

Profile compiled 2026-07-21; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

← Back to track record