Krisann Kosel is the new fuels management specialist for the Folsom office.  She started in June of this year.  She is also new to California having worked for a fire fighting and prescribed fire contractor based in Wyoming.  Her fire job took her all over the U.S.  Prior to getting into the fire biz, she was a land manager for the Nature Conservancy in Florida.  "We did a lot of prescribed burns to prevent catastrophic fires, so I got a lot of training, which lead to a fire career."

Krisann is from Rhododendron, Oregon on Mt. Hood.  Krisann points out that her native town is ON Mt. Hood, not near it.  She graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in zoology. Being adventurous, she eventually obtained a job catching lizards in Florida.  She wound up staying eight years.  While there, she picked up her Masters in biology with an emphasis in restoration ecology.  Not one to stand idle, she also became an automotive services mechanic at a tech school in Florida.  She is now pursuing qualification as a certified engine captain. 

Asked about her most interesting experience she hesitated, saying there were so many.  Finally, she settled on her experience working at a fish hatchery in a remote location on Prince William Sound in Alaska.  "Alaska was awesome," she says.  "We received food and mail every two weeks.  There was no TV or phone."

Krisann lives in Pleasant Valley outside of Placerville.