About Grind Fire Defense

John Gleason

Fire Defense Specialist

My love of the wilderness wasn’t something that I stumbled upon. It was something that I was born into, its been a part of me from the beginning.

I grew up in the Northern California mountains spending time on my grandparents 80 acres. This is where my grandfather taught me the importance and the meaning of being something bigger than myself.

To always care about the land and show me how we are shepherds of the wood. If we live in the forest we must respect nature and it is our duty to maintain the space we wish to share, he would tell me.

Creating and maintaining defensible space was a part of his regular routine. Living 9 miles deep into the middle of the forest, means fire is a constant possibility. 

All those years working beside my grandfather keeping the homestead as safe is at the core of my knowledge, a knowledge that has been obtained threw working with my hands and listing to those wiser then I. 

Starting as a brush dragger my ability grew with my age moving onto using the chainsaw, falling trees and running equipment, to helping and learning how to strategize creating the best defensible space possible; dreaming of being a wildland firefighter one day. 

Eventually, I made that dream come true. It took a few extra years, and along the way I spent time as a commercial logger in the Black Hills of South Dakota and three years as a certified welder here in Shasta County.

Following a dream sometimes takes a couple different paths. But those experiences only add to the firefighter I am today. It was that first day at the Shasta College Fire Academy, I realized I had stepped into a whole new world. 

But it took me experiencing my first wildfire to realize the true magnitude of how important proper planning is in the face of a fire. Watching a home burn to the ground for the first time from lack of defensible space, or from the lack of knowledge hit me more personally than I ever thought it would. Especially when I could see how a few simple preventive decisions could have made the difference. 

In my life I have lived through multiple evacuations and even some close calls. I’ve been separated from my mom on the other side of a fire not knowing where she is ok. That is a feeling no one should ever have to experience. 

Grind Fire Defense is more than a job for me. It’s an opportunity to help others, to educate people on a process that takes years to learn. Whether it's providing a service or providing education and advise; I will always come from a place of service.

Lori Templeton

Business and Processes

A Life of Service. My whole life I have served
others.

First as a single mother working full time going
to college in order to create better opportunities for my children as an educator in both Shasta and Tehama Counties.

I spent the next 10 years building, developing and guiding young minds while raising my
children in the North State. Then as I watched those children grow into Amazing young men and women Imade the decision to take a leap and follow a long waiting dream to become a Military Officer.

At 39 yrs old I joined the California Army National Guard as an AG Officer spending the next 10 years serving in an State Active Duty status. I loved serving my Soldiers and Country, but in 2019 I had the opportunity to transition to taking care of those who Served before me; our aged Veterans for the State of California.

Whether it was in the education system,
Military or for the State of California my priority has always been helping others.

Grind Fire Defense is an extension of that tradition with a foundation established in the mountains of Trinity County watching my parents carving out their dream on the top of Barker Mountain.

As a young parent I spent hours helping my parents every year clear their property for the upcoming fire season; watching my children learn the value of the forest while stacking piles of brush to burn. Back then it was a way to spend time with family, get a little exercise, and enjoy seeing the kids putting some work in.

What I realize now is how those years prepared and impressed upon all of us the importance of being prepared.