Wild Card

The novel is set against the backdrop of British Columbia’s wilderness, where the real and escalating threat of seasonal wildfires provides a high-stakes context for the plot. According to the British Columbia Wildfire Service, the 2023 wildfire season was the most destructive in the province’s history, burning over 2.84 million hectares of land. While the 2025 wildfire season was less destructive, it remains well above the regional average, with nearly 1 million hectares burned (“Wildfire Season Summary” Government of British Columbia, 20 Nov. 2025). This stark reality informs the profession of the protagonist, Bash, an aerial firefighter who pilots an air tanker to drop water or fire retardant on active fires. This dangerous occupation is not merely a job but a core part of his identity, shaping him into a stoic and capable individual. The text notes his years of experience have given him the “uncanny ability to doze off almost anywhere” because “Wildfires don’t care about your bedtime” (5-6). In the novel, Bash’s exhausting work leads to occupational burnout, a genuine risk for wildland firefighters who work long hours in grueling and dangerous conditions. Writing in Mountain Journal in 2025, journalist Rose Shimberg details “a silent mental health crisis in the wildland firefighting world,” as low pay, job insecurity, and high rates of occupational injury foster anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders (Shimberg, Rose. “The Silent Mental Health Crisis on the Frontlines of Fire.” Mountain Journal, 25 Jun. 2025). As cuts to government firefighting budgets coincide with ever more frequent fires due to climate change, private contractors often fill the gap, hiring contract workers who often lack health insurance and other protections while doing some of the most dangerous work in the world. A recent New York Times article tells the representative story of Joel Eisiminger, who worked as a contractor for a private wildland firefighting company until he developed acute myeloid leukemia, likely as a result of repeated smoke inhalation. Unlike firefighters who work directly for the government, Eisiminger had no employer-provided health insurance to cover his medical costs, and the company fired him soon after his diagnosis (Dreier, Hannah. “If I Live to 25, I’ve Lived a Good Life.” The New York Times, 8 Sept. 2025). In Wild Card, readers see little of Bash’s experience on the front lines until the climactic scene of Gwen’s rescue, but his profound exhaustion on returning from a deployment offers a glimpse of the physical and mental toll that this work takes.