This thesis explores the ways in which wildfires operate as disturbance mechanisms in our complex landscapes. I consider this concept as not only biologically true, but also socially true, thinking with scientists, anthropologists, indigenous folks, and foresters. I grapple with how fires create voids in communities, opening up the terrain for transformative encounters and spurring new entanglements across the American South West. Throughout the course of this piece, fire becomes an analytical tool to understand how life before, during, and after an environmental crisis is not what we’d expect.