When The Smoke Clears

About When The Smoke Clears

What happens to a firefighter after they've spent decades running into burning buildings and rescuing people from sickness, injury and death? When they walk away from the job, how have they changed? What lessons have they learned? What type of person have they become?

Publisher

Whenthesmokeclears

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

11 Jan 2024

Latest episode

13 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

4 of 38 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   13 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   37 - Captain Justin Meyer

   Captain Justin Meyer shares insights from his 30-year career in fire and rescue, including his experiences as a FEMA USAR K9 handler, in this interview.

2. 

   13 Jul 2026

   36 - Fire Administrator Gordon Aoyagi

   Fire Administrator Gordon Aoyagi shares his experiences leading Montgomery County Fire and Rescue during a pivotal transitional period.

3. 

   25 May 2026

   35 - Captain Rick Triplett

   Rick Triplett was born and raised in Montgomery County, specifically the Rockville/Twinbrook area. So when he finally made his way into the fire service and started working in Rockville, his knowledge of the area served him very well. He got the opportunity to drive a lot of different types of apparatus, so he became extremely operator for the engine, truck, and rescue squad. As he rose through the ranks, he joined the USAR team and got to deploy to several high profile nati...

Inside a recent episode

37 - Captain Justin Meyer

Published 13 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Um, and so my knees kind of jacked up and I had two procedures on that, but What was more important to me is that I retired not being bitter at the job. There you go. Not being bitter with the department, not being bitter with my bosses, not being bitter with the citizens, not being bitter with anybody. And I said, you know, because I never wanted to be that guy. And one of the things that I absolutely did not do during my last couple of years was I never went R&D, man. I never was retired on duty. I did not hide in my office. Um, I did not slack and watch TV all day. Um, I still got out there with, I was out there with the probies. […]

Who has been a guest on When The Smoke Clears

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Justin Meyer
• Gordon Aoyagi
• Corey Smedley
• Vanessa DeVries
• Captain Kevin DeVries

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

31 ratings

Spotify

4.8 / 5

13 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 29 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

30

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

71

Contact When The Smoke Clears

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about When The Smoke Clears