Today, two rapidly growing Colorado start-ups announced their partnership. LavaBox Portable Campfires™ publicly revealed a new collaboration with nonprofit organization, Protect Our Rivers, in an effort to curb the heart-breaking impacts of wildfires on rivers and streams. Both born on the river, Lavabox and Protect Our Rivers share a vision of a world that puts the health of waterways and forests at the forefront of environmental reclamation efforts. Their fun-loving approach to conservation and passion for protecting the places they love drives their grassroots effort to make a long-lasting impact on America’s endangered rivers and National Forests.
“I created LavaBox to stem wildfires with a product that would be fun, easily adopted, and highly utilized,” says Joshua Thurmond, Founder and Chief Eruption Officer of LavaBox Portable Campfire™. “I quickly realized that Protect Our Rivers’ mindset is the same. When you do something fun and exciting everyone wants to join in. People forget they are changing the world. They are just doing the right thing and feeling good doing it.”
Sarah Nelson, Executive Director & Founder of Protect Our Rivers, adds, “It’s easy to forget that rivers and forests rely on each other to survive. Downstream impacts like mudslides, erosion, and ash impact river health long after containing the wildfire. Likewise, forests need healthy river systems to recover and thrive. I’m excited that our partnership will spread love to both rivers and trees by empowering people to make decisions that reduce harm.”
Nearly 85% of all wildfires are human-caused and are generally preventable. These wildfires have a direct impact on our rivers and streams. Water that moves through an area affected by wildfire tends to be heavily polluted with debris, mud, and large sediment loads. This flood of unexpected water changes the streambed, harms wildlife, and, oftentimes, has a destructive impact on the surrounding communities.
Lavabox and Protect Our Rivers believe that the cumulative actions of each individual make a difference.
They’re working to shift that human impact to one that’s beneficial to natural ecosystems. By working together, they aim to cast a larger net and unite the local community to help restore the human-caused damage to rivers, forests, and natural ecosystems. In 2023, Protect Our Rivers and LavaBox will partner on high-impact river cleanup events, including the 16th Annual South Platte Clean-up on April 29, 2022, and National Public Lands Day with the Bureau of Land Management in September. They plan to educate the community about responsible recreation, minimizing campfire impacts, and the potential for propane fires to heavily reduce the occurrence of human-caused wildfires.
Back to The Beginning
What inspired Josh and Sarah to take on such big challenges? For Lavabox, Josh was motivated to find a safe, effective alternative to a traditional campfire during the last paddling trip of the 2020 river season while trying to stay warm during a Stage II fire ban. For Protect Our Rivers, Sarah saw an opportunity during a life-changing trip on Cataract Canyon to start a nonprofit to revitalize our rivers and streams and shield our waterways from further destruction. The mission that guides each of these groups organically intersects and a strategic partnership emerged.
About Lavabox
LavaBox Portable Campfire is a compact, propane-based campfire that can be safely used anywhere. With its patent-pending technology, LavaBox creates a realistic fire that can be shut off with the flick of a switch. No sparks, No smoke, and no embers to endanger our public lands and beyond.