HAROLD R. LARSON

Harold R. Larson is a veteran firefighter and author with more than twenty years of wildland firefighting experience and six years as a career structural firefighter. Over the course of his career, he has responded to hundreds of wildfires across Canada, Australia, and the United States, working in environments ranging from remote boreal forests to large campaign fires in mountainous terrain.

He currently serves as a career structural firefighter on Canada’s West Coast, applying lessons learned from decades on the fireline. His background includes frontline wildfire suppression, leadership roles across multiple crew positions, and command responsibilities during complex incident operations where sound judgment, teamwork, and experience are essential.

Larson studied Forest Technology at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, graduating with honours and earning placement on the Dean’s Honour Roll. His wildfire deployments include service during major international fire seasons, including the 2009 Victorian bushfires in Australia, where he was awarded Australia’s National Emergency Medal.

Alongside his operational career, Harold has built a reputation as a nonfiction author known for capturing the realities of wildland firefighting with accuracy and intensity. His writing offers readers a rare ground-level view of life on the fireline, from the physical demands of extended deployments to the camaraderie that binds crews together during high-risk operations.

His work preserves the voices, lessons, and culture of those who stand on the fireline.

Contact Harold
A man in a suit holding a fire helmet stands behind the Centennial flames on Parliament Hill.
A man in a red shirt and red helmet standing in a forest holding a shovel, with sunlight shining through the trees.
Firefighter standing next to a ladder truck, wearing a yellow helmet and protective gear, with a smoky sky in the background.
Group of firefighters with helmets and tools on a dirt hill, with a waterfall and forested mountains in the background, a helicopter flying overhead.
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A forest fire with tall flames burning through trees, producing dark smoke against a gray sky.
A helicopter hovering close to the ground while a team of wildfire fighters in yellow and brown uniforms, some wearing helmets, attaching a heli-bucket in a grassy field with a backdrop of trees and a blue sky with scattered clouds.
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Group of wildland firefighters in uniform, holding tools, posing in front of a haglund in a forest clearing.