Before immersing herself in the wildfire world, she wrote "Prophets and Moguls, Rangers and Rogues, Bison and Bears" which tells the story of conservation in the U.S. and chronicles 100 years of the National Park Service. Hansen experienced her first western wildfire on the day she moved to Boulder in July, 2002. To better understand what it takes to be a wildland firefighter, she trained to become one in 2015.