Young Men and Fire

Amazon.com

On August 5, 1949, lightning came crashing down in the vast spruce forest above Seeley Lake, Montana, and touched off a roaring blaze. As every Westerner knows, lightning means fire, but the fire that raged through Mann Gulch that day was huge--the sort that occurs only every few decades. A battery of paratrooper-firefighters, many of them fresh veterans of World War II, had been anticipating it, and even looking forward to the chance to fight a great fire. Before the day ended thirteen of those smokejumpers lay dead, their charred remains evidence that something had gone terribly wrong. Norman Maclean gives a thorough account of the incident in language not meant for the squeamish: "Burning to death on a mountainside is dying at least three times ... first, considerably ahead of the fire, you reach the verge of death in your boots and your legs; next, as you fail, you sink back in the region of strange gases and red and blue darts where there is no oxygen and here you die in your lungs; then you sink in prayer into the main fire that consumes." After August 1949, he notes, the Forest Service came to recognize that not all fires need to be fought and that fire benefits most forest ecosystems.

Book Description

On August 5, 1949, a crew of fifteen of the United States Forest Service's elite airborne firefighters, the Smokejumpers, stepped into the sky above a remote forest fire in the Montana wilderness. Two hours after their jump, all but three of these men were dead or mortally burned. Haunted by these deaths for forty years, Norman Maclean puts back together the scattered pieces of the Mann Gulch tragedy.

Young Men and Fire won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1992.

"A magnificent drama of writing, a tragedy that pays tribute to the dead and offers rescue to the living.... Maclean's search for the truth, which becomes an exploration of his own mortality, is more compelling even than his journey into the heart of the fire. His description of the conflagration terrifies, but it is his battle with words, his effort to turn the story of the 13 men into tragedy that makes this book a classic."—from New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice, Best Books of 1992

"A treasure: part detective story, part western, part tragedy, part elegy and wholly eloquent ghost story in which the dead and the living join ranks cheerfully, if sometimes eerily, in a search for truth and the rest it brings."—Joseph Coates, Chicago Tribune

"An astonishing book. In compelling language, both homely and elegant, Young Men and Fire miraculously combines a fascinating primer on fires and firefighting, a powerful, breathtakingly real reconstruction of a tragedy, and a meditation on writing, grief and human character.... Maclean's last book will stir your heart and haunt your memory."—Timothy Foote, USA Today

"Beautiful.... A dark American idyll of which the language can be proud."—Robert M. Adams, The New York Review of Books

"Young Men and Fire is redolent of Melville. Just as the reader of Moby Dick comes to comprehend the monstrous entirety of the great white whale, so the reader of Young Men and Fire goes into the heart of the great red fire and comes out thoroughly informed. Don't hesitate to take the plunge."—Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post Book World

"Young Men and Fire is a somber and poetic retelling of a tragic event. It is the pinnacle of smokejumping literature and a classic work of 20th-century nonfiction."—John Holkeboer, The Wall Street Journal

"Maclean is always with the brave young dead. . . . They could not have found a storyteller with a better claim to represent their honor. . . . A great book."—James R. Kincaid, New York Times Book Review

Customer Reviews:

The Tragic Story of the Mann Gulch Fire.......2007-07-28

This true story by the author of A River Runs Through It tells the events surrounding the Mann Gulch Fire in 1949. A good portion focuses on the smokejumpers (paratrooping firefighters)13 out of 16 of which perished in the fire.

In those days, the smokejumping program was very new having been introduced within the past 8 to 10 years. The men had to be between the ages of 18 and 30, single, and in superb physical condition. The main tools they carried were a shovel and something called a Pulaski which is a combination ax and hoe built into one. They utilized these tools to dig fire lines, and fell trees ahead of the fire so as to reduce the amount of fuel and prevent it jumping from one tree to the next.

When dropped from the plane onto the ground by the fire, a foreman would be in charge of the crew as they fought the fire. In the instance of the Mann Gulch fire in Montana, the fire started out as a fairly decent sized fire. It then progressed into what is known as a "blowup." This occurred as a result of a combination of factors such as fuel type, moisture, incline of terrain, and wind.

It quickly got out of control and the crew had to run for their lives. Occasionally, in a blowup a vortex of fire will be formed which will sweep across a vast area burning everything in its path. It looks and functions like a tornado. I recently talked with a man who used to be a farmer and he indicated that when they burned fields to prepare them for future seasons a fire vortex would sometimes occur. He said it was an awesome and amazing sight to behold.

During the blowup it was not possible for the majority of the men to outrun the fire and they perished mainly from suffocation due to lack of oxygen. The foreman saw this happening and created a secondary fire to try to create a burned out place which would provide shelter from the main fire. Unfortunately, amidst the confusion of the fire, the men did not understand the foreman and thought he had gone crazy to be lighting a second fire. He did survive but all but 2 others did not.

A secondary portion of the book analyzes the various components of the fire, what caused it, and some of the science behind fire. Maclean spent around 12 years researching the book, gathering documents, interviewing the 2 remaining survivors and returning to the site of the fire. He was well equipped to tell the story having spent time as a forest fire fighter in his younger years before going on to be a literature professor and writer. The book was masterfully written but slightly meticulous at times. It is the type of story that would make a very dramatic movie if a studio were interested in producing it.

Uneven but thoughtful and inspiring.......2007-02-08

Pieced together after the author's death, you can see what this book would have been had he lived to complete it. In places, you have to push yourself through it. Still, it is worth your time. Tracing a tragedy trying to resurrect peace for souls long gone, you are put in touch with feelings and emotions that affect us all.

If you love the outdoors, adventure, and real men doing real things, this book is for you.

Math?.......2006-12-27

Has anyone out there checked Maclean's math on pages 229-230 of the paperback edition (second section of Chapter 12)? I'm no math expert, but shouldn't the hypotenuse of a right triangle with sides of 1,320 and 140 yards be a little over 1,327 yards, and not the 1,400 yards he indicates? Moreover, didn't all of the 140 yard vertical gain occur in the final half mile of travel, since the crew was moving on contour for the first quarter mile of "the race"? This would yield a total actual distance of only 1,331 yards. I was surprised by these errors given how meticulous Maclean was in the rest of his research.

This is a great book, though.

Reads like a detective novel.......2006-11-16

First, its important to note that the author did not complete this novel. Unfortunately, Maclean died prior to its completion, so others had to pull it all together for publishing. This perhaps lends to what I see as an "unpolished" quality, with some choppiness. That said, I felt it still merited four stars for what the author did. Maclean's research is extensive, and his conclusions are derived from numerous authoritative sources. It read like a mystery / detective novel for me, and I had trouble putting it down.

A tragic and wonderful story.......2006-11-09

This is a fine story of brave men in a tragic struggle. A struggle that they loose. The entire book covers the 16 minutes it took for these smoke jumpers to land, confront a "10'oclock" fire and die. Norman Maclean researches the human and scientific causes of this disaster. It was especially of intrest to me because when I went through the fire fighter academy here in Northern California, this was an incident that we studied. Norman Maclean writes in a sparcer prose than in "A River Runs Through It, and other stories" but it is no less facinating and we learn details about the authors life, that makes this story a personal one. He did not finish the book before his death and the last section was written with minimal editing from the original manuscript. This section is the most beautiful and moving of the entire book. I cannot recommend this book highly enouph.

Average customer rating:

really like Nicholas Evans
Compelled to write a review A +
Awesome Book! Nicholas Evans Can Write! A++++
Hearts of Fire
The most absorbing novel I have ever read

The Smoke Jumper
Nicholas Evans
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385334036
Release Date: 2001-08-21

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

New York born and bred, Julia Bishop has no warning that spending the summer counseling troubled teens in Montana will change her life forever. Happily in love with smoke jumper and musician Ed Tully, she looks forward to spending the summer weekends with him in Missoula and is stunned and disturbed by the instant connection she feels to his best friend, Connor Ford. Connor, a Montana rancher and smoke jumper, loves fighting fires almost as much as he loves photography, and before the summer is barely started, he loves Julia Bishop just as deeply. The bond between the three is strong but the work of a smoke jumper is fraught with danger and the trio soon face death by fire. Survival changes their lives forever and places them on paths that divide Julia, Ed, and Connor just as surely as their individual journeys bind them irrevocably together. The Smoke Jumper is a tale of loyalty and guilt, honor and selfless love, and the human cost of choices made. --Lois Faye Dyer

Book Description

The fire that was to change so many lives so utterly started with a single shaft of lightning. It struck a mountain ridge on a still and moonless night and nestled like a pupa of death in the desiccated heart of an ancient pine. There were witnesses no doubt to this sudden splintering of air and wood, but none that was human. The woman, camped nearby with her group of troubled teenagers, slept on and heard nothing.

She has brought them here by court order on a youth program to help them find themselves. But one among them will be lost forever. For soon the cocoon of fire will hatch to engulf the entire mountain and exact its deadly toll. And into this inferno will come ... The Smoke Jumper.

His name is Connor Ford and he falls like an angel of mercy from the sky, braving the flames to save the woman he loves but knows he cannot have. For Julia Bishop is the partner of his closest friend, Ed Tully, an ambitious young musician. Julia loves them both but the tragedy on Snake Mountain forces her to choose between them and burns a brand on all their hearts.

With his blond, blue-eyed looks and laconic cowboy charm, Connor is the only child of a Montana rancher and a rodeo queen. Until that fateful day, he has been happy to spend his winters nurturing a career as a photographer and his summer vacations with Ed, “smoke jumping” — being dropped by parachute to fight remote forest fires.

In the wake of the fire, he embarks on a journey to the dark heart of human suffering, traveling the world’s worst wars and disasters to take photographs that find him fame but never happiness. Reckless of a life he no longer wants, again and again he dares death to take him, until another fateful day on another continent, he must walk through fire once more....

After his two international bestsellers, The Horse Whisperer and The Loop, Nicholas Evans returns with an epic novel of love and loyalty, of guilt and honor. Moving from the towering wilds of the American West to the killing fields of Africa, The Smoke Jumper is the story of three people’s quest for happiness and self-fulfillment, played out against the heroism of fire fighting in the wilderness and photojournalism at the edge of human experience — a mesmerizing adventure for the spirit, told in the grandest tradition.

Customer Reviews:

really like Nicholas Evans.......2007-04-02

The Smoke Jumper is another one by this author that keeps you on the edge of your chair, wondering how it will end. Its another stay up until 2 a.m. to finish it-type book. I have read 2 of his other books and really liked them as well.

Compelled to write a review A +.......2006-05-23

I read this book over 2 years ago. It is by far the best book I have ever read. I can still think back on the book as if it was a movie. If anyone is considering reading this book, I urge you to do so.

This is the kind of book that you will never forget!

Awesome Book! Nicholas Evans Can Write! A++++.......2006-04-15

I enjoyed this book from the first page until the last of it. Ed, Connor, and Julia were the three musketeers that made up the story. Ed met Julia early on in the book, and the two fell in love and planned to marry. Julia was a child psychologist, and Ed a musician. Ed always had serious diabetes problems, and throughout this book events will change their lives. Connor was a photographer, and interestingly, when he and Julia meet after she and Ed travel to Missoula Montana, Connor and Julia find an instant attraction to one another.

One of the saddest events of this book was about a child, Skye McReedie, who is lost, and her stepdad is very abusive to her. So she is a runaway, and gets into trouble with the law. Skye is then placed into a program called the WAY, for disturbed youngsters, or those that have been in trouble. Julia runs this group and does wonders with these kids. Skye is a bitter angry person, but Julia is finally able to reach out to her. Then something happens with one of the boys there on the campsite and Skye, and this frightens Skye and makes her run away again. But not without danger. A big fire starts there on a hot day in the campsite, and Julia tries to run after Skye and rescue her, knowing she is in danger with the fire. And unfortunately, as she tried to rescue her, or herself, Skye burns away. This was about the saddest part of the story, and Julia carries the guilt forever.

Life goes on though of course with the three of them, and Ed is sadly blinded after this horrible fire takes place. But that is not all coincidental; his diabetes played a big role in this. In spite of his blindness though, Ed is a happy man. He and Julia want a child of theirs after this happens with Ed, but of course, he is unable to biologically be a father. This is where Connor steps in, and after much careful thought, they have him be the sperm donor for their child. Julia finds herself pregnant shortly, and 9 months later she has Amy, a beautiful girl.

Amy is a delightful child who brings them a lot of joy, and loves Ed dearly. Ed's health continues declining as he goes into kidney failure and needs dialysis. This continues through the story.

Connor withdraws more and more, especially after making Amy possible, as he feels like he doesn't want to interfere and is not comfortable. So the friendship with he and Ed falls apart there. Connor goes over to Africa to be a smoke jumper there, mainly rescuing kids that were injured and held hostage there.

Sadly, Ed has a major heart attack, and he dies later in the story. Julia has an ambition to travel to Africa, so after she finds work there as a teacher for underprivleged children, she and Amy leave. They know Connor is there, and he doesn't even realize that Ed has passed on. her real motive is to try and find him there, which she does. And it is in the middle of a huge fire that they cross paths again. Connor rescues many people there, but unfortunately many die.

Julia and Amy along with Connor return to the states. Amy is traumatized for many months. Julia and Connor try to pick up the pieces and move on, which in time they do, and have the romance that was so meant to be.

This book would make a great movie no doubt. It is one of the best books I have read to date.

Hearts of Fire.......2006-02-18

Connor Ford is a beautiful loner with an enchanting talent for photography.

Ed Tully is an exburent musician with dreams of fame and fortune.

They're best friends and every summer they smoke jump with an elite group from Missoula,Montana. This one summer shall be one that either of them won't forget.

I loved the book so much. I felt like I was really seeing Montana,Bosnia,and the many reaches of Africa. Nicholas Evans used so much imagery that I actually felt like I was seeing the suffering that Connor photographed. All of the characters were well written and I felt that I was friends with them as well. I could almost hear Ed's laughter and bad jokes,see into Connor's pale blue eyes,and see the determination across Julia's face. The one thing that bothered me was the death of Ed. Why did he have to die? Every scene he was in almost made me laugh out loud. I loved him so much but I had a huge crush on Connor. I loved this book and I highly recommend it.

The most absorbing novel I have ever read.......2005-10-27

I have read this book several times and i have to say I dont ever get bored by it. One of the many things I find appealing about this book is the way you can relate to the characters on a personal level. The emotions are so vivid that when you read the book, you find feeling what the charcters feel. The stories depth holds no boundries. The author is not afraid to get a little sappy at times, most authors I find try to avoid this and I think it robs the characters of personality and even the readers sympathy towards the characters.
My favorite aspect about the book is that it is extremely easy to follow and read. I hate it when authors try to impress you by using uselessly big words and complex structure. Not that this makes the story uninteresting, but that I find them exhausting to read. You find yourself stopping on a regular basis to figure out what the hell is going on, but not in this book. Evans is able to draw a picture with crystal clear detail, so much so that you could believe your are there. At the same time, he is able to say what he needs to say without wasting time with complex language.
The first time I read the book I got so absorbed that I read it in two days. The book is filled with twists and turns that leave you itching for more. Ranging in settings that take you from the mountains of Montana to the jungles of Africa, this story will leave no reader disapointed.

Fire, Climate Change, and Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest (Ecological Studies)

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Fire, Climate Change, and Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest (Ecological Studies)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0387988904

Book Description

In boreal forests, which contain large amounts of the world's terrestrial organic carbon, fire is a natural and fundamental disturbance regime essential in controlling many ecosystem processes. As a result of predicted climate change in the future, the fire regime and, consequently, the forest cover and carbon storage of boreal regions will undergo dramatic alterations. This volume discusses the direct and indirect mechanisms by which fire and climate interact to influence carbon cycling in North American boreal forests. The first section summarizes the information needed to understand and manage fire's effects on the ecology of boreal forests and its influence on global climate change issues. Following chapters discuss in detail the role of fire in the ecology of boreal forests. Subsequent sections present data sets on fire and the distribution of carbon, discuss the use of satellite imagery in monitoring these regions and discuss approaches to modeling the relevant processes. The book offers the following new results: improved estimates of carbon released during fires at a variety of scales, from individual sites to the entire North American boreal forest region; direct evidence of enhanced soil respiration after fire in Alaskan boreal forests; studies of the influence of fire on long-term forest-succession patterns; modeling results of the effects of climate warming on the fire regime; examples of the use of satellite imagery to monitor surface characteristics important in carbon cycling; modeling results of how climate change will interact with the fire regime to influence carbon storage.

Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon Fire

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Blowout!
Still Learning
Resubtitle : One of the Versions of the Storm King Fire
A disservice to the memory of his father and firefighters
We hiked Storm King...

Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon Fire
John N. Maclean
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743410386
Release Date: 2000-08-29

Amazon.com

Colorado and its neighboring states battle thousands of wildfires every year, scrub and sagebrush blazes often ignited by lightning strikes in the dry, hot days of summer. A vast, intertwined firefighting infrastructure combining local resources with agencies like the Forest Service and the BLM, reacts to these flare-ups as if going to war--and in theory, the coordination and communication ensures that fires are fought in the most efficient and safe manner possible. But while most wildfires in Colorado end up costing just over $60,000 on average with no loss of life, the catastrophic South Canyon fire of 1994 burned for 10 days, at the ultimate cost of $4.5 million and the lives of 14 firefighters. OSHA would later describe the coordinated action flatly as a "management failure," and concurrent investigations would reveal a tangled web of jealous rivalries, bureaucratic bungling, and severe morale problems. (One of the early on-scene supervisors would later tell investigators, "Leadership in this state sucks.")

John Maclean (son of Norman Maclean, who wrote both A River Runs Through It and an award-winning account of Montana's deadly 1949 Mann Gulch fire) skillfully unfolds that summer's foreboding blow-by-blow. Fire on the Mountain weaves together a tense narrative of almost cinematic action, starring ballsy cowboy smokejumpers, frustrated federal middle managers, seasoned "hotshots" flown in like commandos, pissed-off tanker pilots, and well-intentioned but spin-wary politicians. Maclean's well-sketched personalities bring the action on the ground convincingly to life--and knowing up front that many of his main characters won't survive South Canyon makes this tragic tale that much more compelling. --Paul Hughes

Book Description

THE DRAMATIC TRUE ACCOUNT OF THE SOUTH CANYON
FIRE -- THE DEVASTATING FOREST FIRE THAT TOOK THE
LIVES OF FOURTEEN FIREFIGHTERS

In this acclaimed bestseller of investigative journalism, John N. Maclean chronicles the deadly 1994 Colorado forest fire that was wrongly identified at the outset as occurring in South Canyon. This misidentification was the first in a string of seemingly minor human errors that would be compounded into one of the greatest tragedies in the annals of firefighting as fourteen men and women firefighters -- experts in their field -- lost their lives battling the South Canyon blaze.

This stunning reconstruction of the fire and its aftermath, drawn from Maclean's exhaustive research and countless interviews, reveals fascinating insights into what went wrong, and how so many top-notch firefighters fell victim to nature at its most unforgiving. A page-turning adventure narrative brimming with action and intensity, Fire on the Mountain offers a powerful and indelible profile of a special breed of people who put their lives on the line as part of their daily jobs.

Customer Reviews:

Blowout!.......2005-02-03

It started with dry lightning storm starting 40 new fires in the Grand Junction District with 5000 lightning strikes on Storm King Mountain before the fire and a total of 9,000 strikes total.

The BLM case is that other fires threatening homes required resource immediately and the South Canyon fire was not number one on the priority list; furthermore, BLM relied on County Helicopter support and availability from Western Slope Fire Coordination Center. The author tells about a tactic used by Blume where Blume would travel to Western Slope Fire Coordination Center identified which helicopters were on the pad, return to office, and place a call for the resource; the resource could not be denyed; games people play. What was needed to prevent such games was a join network of State and Fed with a central command hierarchy that could give stronger coordination during a crisis.

Therefore, it is logically that criticism would surface directing its anger at unclear procedures between state and federal agencies delayed deployment and usage of firefighting resources like failure to by the state too put out the fire because it had not cross its zone. Furthermore, criticism centers on these delays causing the small Storm King fire to expand from 30 acres to 50 acres to a crisis. When the smoke jumpers arrived at the fire scene they were startled at the size of the fire, however their "can do" attitude may have contributed to this underestimation of the problem. Brains are critical to fire survival and not just brawn. Smoke jumper could not be expected to back down from their jobs. Therefore, management must be held accountable for the disaster and their failure to recognized a crisis emerging and don't point the finger at the smoke jumpers. The reviewing commission says, "Twelve of the 18 Watch Out Situations were not recognized, or proper action was not taken" indicating that the firefighting crew was careless.

The smoke jumpers, BLM/Forrest service misjudgment could have been avoided by putting out the fire sooner. Immediate plane drops of retardant and helicopter support could have contributed significantly. Red mud retard was delivered by plane too late. The difficult wind currents made flyovers difficult caused by sudden drops in air pressure threatening to put the plane wing into the mountain.

Lack of immediate support delayed blue hat crews from arriving at the fire sight. Good black areas were too far from the fighting crews and super human efforts by the blue hats was not enough; the second group were able to power out to I-70 into safety.

"On July of 1994 had been a drought year and a time of low humidity. The fuels were extremely dry and susceptible to rapid and explosive spread. None of the groups recognized the dense oak spread as a potential for a blowup. A blow up is the perfect combination of fuel, high winds, and specific terrain topology. Cucou was monitoring the weather conditions on July 6: he predicted a cold front with winds of 45 mph passing through the fire zone around 3:30-4:00 pm. The weather information came in advance but did not trigger and evacuation. "A major blowup did occur on July 6 beginning at 4:00 p.m. Maximum rates of spread of 18 mph and flames as high as 200 to 300 feet made escape by firefighters extremely difficult."

On the west side the fire crossed the original fireline so BLM/Forest service started a second fireline further downhill on the east side of the ridge.

"At 3:20 p.m. a dry cold front moved into the fire area. As winds and fire activity increased, the fire made several rapid runs with 100-flame lengths within the existing burn. At 4:00 p.m. the fire crossed the bottom of the west drainage and spread up the drainage on the west side. It soon spotted back across the drainage to the east side beneath the firefighters and moved onto steep slopes and into dense, highly flammable Gambel oak. Within seconds a wall of flame raced up the hill toward the firefighters on the west flank fireline. Failing to outrun the flames, 12 firefighters perished. Two helitack crew-members on top of the ridge also died when they tried to outrun the fire to the northwest. The remaining 35 firefighters survived by escaping out the east drainage or seeking a safety area and deploying their fire shelters."

The smoke jumper elite were burned, a forbidden taboo; their story shows their incredible determination to survive; they lived their on the edge and lives with each other represented a close family bonds; the Storm King blowup was similar to the Mann Gulch blowup and no correlation translated to warn against a repeat occurrence; McKay was a hero; the escape routes were too long and steep with the worst part of the path achieving a 55 degree incline as the blue hat pace dropped to 1 per hour as the fire increased its velocity to 5 miles per hour; "the Prineville Interagency Hotshot Crew (out-of state-blue hats) was not briefed on local conditions, fuels, or fire weather forecasts before being sent to the South Canyon fire."; carry tools and equipment on the escape route reduced the pace and every second made the difference between reaching the ridge and death.

The book is captivating.

Still Learning.......2004-07-31

Great reporting, decent literature although granted, few of us will ever match his father.
I know/knew many of the principals on this stage and what struck me was how well he captured them. Over and over, I'd read of another friend and easily picture them saying or doing what was in print, but now became very real.
I'm amazed by how much I missed after the official report and talking with some of those that were there. Mr. MacLean's book has rounded my education well. My oldest started fire fighting four years ago and I required reading of the report and this book so that he would understand the multiple levels that mistakes are made at.
To those that complain about faultfinding; how much fault has been found with "Fire on the Mountain"? Have there been any lawsuits, settlements or retractions? If none, then please list flaws so we can judge the validity of disputed items.
The only major flaw I saw in this book was failure to deal aggressively with the two jumpers who were not carrying fire shelters. Should have been at least a few pages devoted to that.
There is a huge reason for this book. The failing of management to report on and effectively deal with management's errors. This book fills part of that void.
Mr. MacLean, would you please do a book on Los Alamos and the Cerro Grande Fire? I was there for a couple weeks. The mistakes of the prescribed burn that got away would only be an appetizer to leads us to the corruption/incompetence of the Lab. That Lab is a far more important issue than wildland fire safety.
Whatever else, thank you for this book.

Resubtitle : One of the Versions of the Storm King Fire.......2004-01-19

Gee -- this isnt the fire I remember fighting!! How eloquent and backbiting a report from someone who wasnt even there and who, while researching this book, appears to have devoted most of his time to the federal offices groups. To spend so much energy on the inability of politicos to get along when a fire is truly fought on the ground... And the truly amazing players, the local fire officers and firefighters who stepped up to the plate after the firestorm (prior to the arrival of the overhead team)and saved homes and each other -well, John you missed it, you missed most uplifting part of the story. So this isn't the "true" story of Storm King; it is one version, by someone who wasnt even there.

A disservice to the memory of his father and firefighters.......2003-09-12

Norman Maclean, himself a former firefighter and woodsman, wrote an excellent account of the Mann Gulch fire. His work was tempered by the distance of time, benefit of age, and experience in the woods. This is obvious through his interaction with the survivors and his search for what happened on that hill.

In contrast, John Maclean's account of the South Canyon fire is riddled with accusations, contradicitions of his own statements and interpretations, and a generally muckraking tone. There is searching for truth and then there is searching for animus. I wish he had left this story to those with a little more time in boots than in Chicago.

Punctuation seemed OK - 1 star is generous.

We hiked Storm King..........2002-11-20

It was the hardest hike I have ever done for a few reasons. The book very accurately depicts the conditions of the mountain and the fire fighters working the fire. It's such a moving story about those that were lost on Storm King and their last day. Have Kleenex handy, but definitely read this book.

Jumping Fire: A Smokejumper's Memoir of Fighting Wildfire

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What's smokejumping *really* like? Read this book and find out!
great book
Great Book on Wildland Firefighting!
Smokejumper's, wow!
Wildland Firefights at their best

Jumping Fire: A Smokejumper's Memoir of Fighting Wildfire
Murry A. Taylor
Manufacturer: Harvest/HBJ Book
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0156013975

Amazon.com

To most of us, the smokejumping world is as alien as Mars or the deep seabed. Yet for Murry Taylor--as for many other Alaskan smokejumpers--it's not just an annual summer job, it's his heart's blood and life's core. He, with all the smokejumpers, strains yearly to achieve the three-mile qualifying run in the requisite 22.5 minutes or under, his physical pain superceded by the fearsome anxiety that he might not make it, that he might never again do what sounds more like a nightmare than a cherished dream: parachute repeatedly from 3,000 feet out of small planes into searing fires.

Taylor is 50 and has been smokejumping since 1965. Jumping Fire, his first book, focuses on one particularly incendiary summer in 1991, from April 29 to September 24, recording the day-to-day minutiae of an Alaskan smokejumper (including the tale of that summer's doomed love affair) while interspersing the narrative with memories accumulated from his nearly three decades of smokejumping and stories by and about his colorful colleagues.

The writing is vivid and immediate. Taylor clarifies the workings of parachute drogue release handles, Stevens connections, and cut-away clutches, but he doesn't inundate us with alienating terminology. The technical details are explained as they come up in the many scenes and anecdotes that shape the book. There are stories of jumps that ended in strangulation and multiple fractures and jumps that ended more comically, with the hapless jumper planted deep in a puddle of duck excrement, or landing on top of a moose. The guys rib each other mercilessly, perform their preflight gear checks religiously, and come to the assistance of their jump partners with a dedication that is inspiring.

The beauty of Alaska infuses Taylor's narrative. He describes the miraculous shift from winter to summer, with willow trees and red alders budding, massive plates of ice shattering, and the sunset-sunrise specials that last all night with the same care that's devoted to his scenes of blazing trees and scorched hills. By the time he pens the epilogue, dated December 1999, Taylor has become the oldest active smokejumper in the field's 60-year history and is trying to decide whether to sign up for the coming season. Should he choose to finally retire, he could always take up writing full-time. He's a natural. --Stephanie Gold

Book Description

Fighting fires since 1965, veteran smokejumper Murry Taylor finally retired from his legendary career after last summer-the worst fire season in more than fifty years. After three decades of parachuting out of planes and battling blazes in the vast, rugged wilderness of Alaska and the West, Taylor recounts in Jumping Fire, with passion and honesty, stories of man versus nature at its most furious and unforgiving. He shares what it's like to hear the deafening roar, to smell the acrid burn, to feel the intense heat, to breathe the thick fumes, and to finally run for your life with exploding flames two hundred feet high and a mile wide licking at your heels. Written with a keen eye for detail and a talent for storytelling, "Jumping Fire is a tale of love and loss, life and death, and sheer hard work, set in an unforgiving and unforgettable landscape, that's second only to Norman Maclean's classic Young Men and Fire" (Publishers Weekly).

Customer Reviews:

What's smokejumping *really* like? Read this book and find out!.......2007-06-14

Bar none, Murry Taylor's book does the best job I've ever read of capturing the essence of the smokejumper's job... the chaos, adventure, awe-inspiring sights, sounds, smells, and emotions, physical and mental demands, comradeship, and routine brushes with near-disaster.

I was a wildland fire fighter for the first half of my nearly 35-year Forest Service career and was even a smokejumper for one fire season way back in 1974. Through the years I've read many pieces about fire fighting and smokejumping only to be disappointed by their shallowness, falsehoods, and lack of essential realities. In my opinion, Taylor's writing does the finest job ever of capturing the essence of the endeavor. Want to get a taste of what smokejumping and wildland fire fighting are like, and the kind of people who zealously do it for a whole working career? Read this book and find out... get a genuine feel for the people who parachute from planes to contain and control wildland fire!

Furthermore, while wildland fire fighting, and smokejumping in particular, can be harrowing and exciting anywhere they occur, nearly all of Taylor's stories are from the edgy, rugged frontiers of Alaska where nearly every day brings an encounter with at least one "near death" experience, avoided only by varying proportions of astute situational awareness, professionalism, grit, and good luck. Paying close attention, Taylor's writing can evoke adrenaline releases from the reader, providing vivid glimpses into the workday life of a smokejumper.

Taylor's stories are readably told in the colloquial vernacular of a very well seasoned and aged smokejumper. He thoroughly conveys the realities of the job and puts the reader inside the head of one whose entire working life has been spent doing one of the most adventurous, if not dangerous, civilian jobs today.

great book.......2007-05-22

I bought the book mostly to get some technical details about smokejumper's work and obviously did not expect author to be high-skilled writer. I was surprised to find it a very engaging read and better quality than many novels written by a professional writers.

Great Book on Wildland Firefighting!.......2007-05-19

This is most definitely a must have for anyone in the fire service. Although I have not been a jumper, I do have a long career in wildland firefighting. This book is RIGHT ON THE MONEY, and brings back many fond memories on the line.

Smokejumper's, wow!.......2007-02-20

A great read. Funny, sad, thrilling. I borowed this from the library and it was an older version. Without the extra afterword, but had some really nice pictures in it. I then bought it, and while I love the afterword, I wish it still had the photos. Still a book I have on my must read list.

Wildland Firefights at their best.......2006-06-14

Jumping Fire is a passionate, thrilling, yet easy-to-read account of Alaska Smokejumper Murry Taylor. This edge-of-your-seat first-person account of the 1991 fire season will keep you reading. Vivid stories, lightly interetwined with the rollercoaster love life afforded by wildland firefighing, help propel this wonderful book through its chapters.

Taylor became Alaska's oldest Smokejumper in 1995, yet continued until his retirement at the end of the historic 2000 season. Even if you've never been on a fireline, eating smoke and chasing down flames, you'll enjoy Jumping Fire.

Wildfire: A Century of Failed Forest Policy

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Fire and Healthy Ecosystems

Wildfire: A Century of Failed Forest Policy

Manufacturer: Foundation for Deep Ecology, by arrangement with Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 159726069X

Book Description

Wildfires are an awe-inspiring natural phenomenon that

have shaped North America's landscapes since the dawn

of time. They are a force that we cannot really control,

and thus understanding, appreciating, and learning to

live with wildfire is ultimately our wisest public policy.

With more than 150 dramatic photographs, Wildfire: A

Century of Failed Forest Policy covers the topic of wildfire

from ecological, economic, and social/political perspectives

while also documenting how past forest policies

have hindered natural processes, creating a tinderbox of

problems that we are faced with today.

More than 25 leading thinkers in the field of fire ecology

provide in-depth analyses, critiques, and compelling

solutions for how we live with fire in our society. Using

examples such as the epic Yellowstone fires of 1988, the

ever-present southern California fires, and the

Northwest's Biscuit Fire of 2002, the book examines the

ecology of these landscapes and the policies and practices

that affected them and continue to affect them, such

as fire suppression, prescribed burns, salvage logging,

and land-use planning. Overall, the book aims to promote

the restoration of fire to the landscape and to

encourage its natural behavior so it can resume its role as

a major ecological process.

Customer Reviews:

Fire and Healthy Ecosystems.......2007-03-15

Contrary to Smokey T. Bear, fire is an integral part of healthy ecosystems. After a century of aggressive fire suppression and the myth of Smokey T. Bear, we now see clearly that fire is integral just as soils, sun, wind, water, insects, snow, ice and other natural processes. Put an increment borerer into a tree and you can read the fire history of an ecosystem back up to 3,000 years.

Core into soils, meadows and adjacent streams and you can often retrace almost 10,000 years of fire history in the sediments, buried logs and stumps. Learn the behavior of wildland fire in the presence of sun, upslope wind, rain, snow, clouds, humidity, katabtic winds and air temperature and you begin to catch a glimpse of how we have artificially imposed politics, wishful thinking and pseudoscience on wildland ecosystems.

Media and politicians speak of "catastrophic" and "charred" ecosystems, but fail to speak of the catastrophe of sprawling urban development imposed upon fire-maintained vegetation and soils. We live in wood houses with wood shake roofs and wonder why our houses burn when the surrounding air super heats.

We have made many mistakes with fire. The first mistake is labeling wildland ecosystems uninhabited "wilderness". As Kat Andersen reminds us in "Before The Wilderness," this was never wilderness, people have always lived here AND used fire as a tool to maintain healthy ecosystems for more than 10,000 years.

It was the European invasion that labeled fire as "bad" and Disney and Bambi who drove the message home. It is only through the dedicated work of scientists and wildland managers in places like Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Yosemite and Yellowstone Natl Parks since 1970 that we have begun to understand the basic role of fire. The Leopold Commission in the early 1950s clearly identified the potential for large fires from all the biomass that was and continues to build up.

There is still a large residue who label fire as "bad," and don't understand the role of fire in healthy, resilant, durable ecosystems. Air Quality districts now impose their mandates on when to burn. This book is a must for the public, resource managers and urban residents.

Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894

Average customer rating:

made me feel a bit guilty about enjoying a book filled with so much human suffering.
When Nature Strikes Back
Great read - beautifully written, amazing story
WHAT A BOOK!!!!
Well written.

Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894
Daniel James Brown
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1592288634

Customer Reviews:

made me feel a bit guilty about enjoying a book filled with so much human suffering........2007-08-18

a few years ago i was enthralled by a book titled "firestorm at peshtigo," by denise gess and william lutz. this fascinating book ("under a flaming sky") does much the same thing; bringing a place from the late 19th century alive and vivid, then describing its horrid destrucion by fire in terrible detail. i read this book compulsively, yet part of me recoiled from the fact that i could find such incredible human suffering interesting. but i did. and i'm sure most everyone else will or would, too. humans have been involved in much horror throughout history, and those of us not there seemingly can't help marvelling at the spectacle of such all consuming tragedy. who can fully understand? anyway, this was a fantastic piece of non-fiction. i recommend you read it and weep.

When Nature Strikes Back.......2007-03-29

The first sentence of the prologue, "Something was afoot that summer -- something concealed, not yet revealed .." sets the tone for the entire book. The author writes in a quaint, somewhat purple prose, detailing what turns out to be a rather personal tragedy. Mr. Brown's grandfather lost his father in this fire, and the Hinckley Firestorm was a part of his family's history. Thus it can be forgiven when Mr. Brown inserts quotes from Shakespeare, the Bible, and Keats at the top of each chapter and names them floridly "Something Wicked" "The Cauldron" "Out of the Ashes" and so on.

You can even understand why he might write in such a breathless, extensively-researched manner, throwing in names, events, details as thick as the bone-dry underbrush that exploded that Sept 1st into flames hot enough to melt steel. This was a tremendously horrific event. Lives were snuffed out in an instant, and entire communties collapsed into smoking rubble.

Those who lived in the northwoods of that era were used to breathing in smoke and skirting smoldering brushfires. It was to be expected. That's what kept the timber mills running and helped folks meet the mortgage and feed the family. But something else happened that day in 1894. The combination of bad timber harvesting techniques, a hot summer's sun, atmospheric conditions, and two seperate fires joining together made for a disaster that wiped out 436 people (accounted for and interred), many native Americans (not accounted for and left unburied) and some dozens of communities.

The author does not flinch from gory details and plain medical facts, and delves into the personal backgrounds of many of the victims, and the prejudices of the day. Statistics come to life, family situations tug at the heart. The bravery of those who rescued others at the peril of their own lives and safety is excellently portrayed. He also speaks like a scientist, explaining why fire acts as it does.

Mr. Brown mentions other great fires of the time, including the overlooked Peshtigo fire, the worst fire disaster in American history and hardly recollected due to the fact that it happened on the very same day as the famous Chicago fire.

Great read - beautifully written, amazing story.......2006-10-10

I have read quite a few fire history books now, and the one complaint I often have is that the writing is mediocre compared to the story it tells. Not so here. This is an extraodinarily well written book -- poignant and moving without being heavy-handed, and it intersperses the story with facts about weather, wildland fire, death by fire, and burn treatment very well.

The only thing I wish the author had told us more about was the aftermath -- he alludes to the fact that many more people would die from their injuries, but never tells us much about how many do, or when... Perhaps that information is not readily available, though. Either way, the lack of this information in no way takes away from the book.

Bottom line: I absolutely could not put this book down, and I am glad to have learned a little history that not many people know -- and to have remembered the victims of this firestorm in the process.

WHAT A BOOK!!!!.......2006-09-10

My grandfather was a railroad engineer in southern Minnesota; he often talked about the railroad's role in this fire. I knew at a very young age that the one train was driven backwards to save people of the town. My aunt, who is almost 90, remembers going "north" on the train to pick blueberries as a very small child. She said even many years after the fire there were burned out stumps in clearings. As a young girl, everytime they went through the area everyone talked about the fire.
I could not put down the book; it was well written and kept my interest throughout. The author took time to explain many aspects of fires, human nature, health issues, and the social climate of the late 1800's.
This is a wonderful book for young adults and adults. It was not offensive in any way and even sensitive subjects were handled well.

Well written........2006-07-24

Daniel James Brown has obviously done a lot of research of the subject and has woven together a story that portrays what the survivors (and non-survivors) of the Hinkley firestorm experienced. My father was a survivor of the fire; this book made the whole disaster seem more real to me. Compelling reading.

Escape from Fire Mountain (World of Adventure)

Average customer rating:

The escape
the best bok
One of the Best Adventures!
Wesley's review
Never Go Downstream Alone

Escape from Fire Mountain (World of Adventure)
Gary Paulsen
Manufacturer: Yearling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0440410258
Release Date: 1995-01-01

Customer Reviews:

The escape.......2007-03-30

Theres little girl named Nikki that convinced her mom and dad that she could stay home alone so her parents could go see her Uncle Joe in the hospital.Now theres also these to ohter kids take their grandpas canoe and they end up at Dead Mans Drop.Nikki Heres somebody on her dads CB radio.When she gets it and goes to respond she heres theirs a fire and no one responds.So she takes her horse Goblin to ride out there.She got so far then she had to ride in the canoe that the horse drag.When she got there the to kids looked like they where hurt.Nikki carried one of the kids.Theyraninto some poachers

the best bok.......2007-03-27

Escape from the fire mountain by Gary Paulsen is about 3 kids that ask there parents if they can go hiking. When they took the horse they got stuck in a fire. They got kidnapped by two guys in black they had guns and swords. I think that the theme is that you should never give up. Because they really never gave up escaping. One way they tried to escape was by running away from the place but then they got caught by the kidnappers. When they did escape with a four wheeler they ran out of gas. then they had to run the the oldest girls house. I really liked this book. I liked this book because Gary [the author] really gets me excited. The part that got me most excited was when they got kidnapped. I just wanted to keep reading because that part got my attention and it was exiting to read this book.

One of the Best Adventures!.......2006-02-14

This was the first book I read in WORLD OF ADVENTURE. I read it during a vacation to my cousins' home! It had me hooked from start to finish. The action is good and there are several suspenseful moments as three kids try to escape a ruthless forest fire AND evil poachers at the same time. Read it!!

Wesley's review.......2005-02-11

Nikki's mom and dad left to go to town which was very far away. She was home alone for a long time. One day she took a horse ride to a field to look at the rams. Then she heard a gun shot and saw one of the rams fall dead, the poachers came up, got the ram's head and left not knowing they had been watched. She tried to call the sheriff on the C.B. raido. She didnt reach him, but instead heard a little boy crying for help. She went down stream to where boy had described. She found him and his little sister who had a borken leg from the fall. Then the poachers found them and were going to kill them, but she got out of the poacher's tent and messed up their gun and took their only four wheeler.
But you have to be careful you never know what could hapopen next.........

Never Go Downstream Alone.......2004-12-15

(1) The 10 year old girl,Nikki feeds her horse and heads off to the mountains. She ran up on some poachers and she went back home to call the warden. The phone was down so she tried the CB radio but heard nothing. then she heard someone saying help. She got the location and went to find them. Tere was a fire on the way and she has to escape it.(2) I really enjoyed this book because I like the Outdoors. It takes place in the outdoors. It made me feel like I was in a fire in a forest.(3)I had a connection with this because I have been in a situation where I had to escape a forest fire. I know how she felt.(4) I Think that if you like the outdoors and realistic fiction books you will not be able to put it down. It has a five star rating from me how about you.

Looking for Longleaf: The Fall and Rise of an American Forest

Average customer rating:

complete book about longleaf pines
Best book on longleaf yet.
America's Rain Forest

Looking for Longleaf: The Fall and Rise of an American Forest
Lawrence S. Earley
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0807856991

Book Description

Covering 92 million acres from Virginia to Texas, the longleaf pine ecosystem was, in its prime, one of the most extensive and biologically diverse ecosystems in North America. Today these magnificent forests have declined to a fraction of their original extent, threatening such species as the gopher tortoise, the red-cockaded woodpecker, and the Venus fly-trap. Conservationists have proclaimed longleaf restoration a major goal, but has it come too late?

In Looking for Longleaf, Lawrence S. Earley explores the history of these forests and the astonishing biodiversity of the longleaf ecosystem, drawing on extensive research and telling the story through first-person travel accounts and interviews with foresters, ecologists, biologists, botanists, and landowners. For centuries, these vast grass-covered forests provided pasture for large cattle herds, in addition to serving as the world's greatest source of naval stores. They sustained the exploitative turpentine and lumber industries until nearly all of the virgin longleaf had vanished.

Looking for Longleaf demonstrates how, in the twentieth century, forest managers and ecologists struggled to understand the special demands of longleaf and to halt its overall decline. The compelling story Earley tells here offers hope that with continued human commitment, the longleaf pine might not just survive, but once again thrive.

Customer Reviews:

complete book about longleaf pines.......2006-11-19

mr. earley goes deep into everything you could want to know about this native tree species,a cornerstone to both the natural world of the southeastern united states and the economic growth and development of the country as a whole.......he tells all about the past history,present day status,and projected outlook of the longleaf pine tree:it's one-time dominance of the coastal plain landscape,compared to it's present day status;all about the naval stores and timber industries,and their heavy dependence upon it that led to it's near demise and current numbers;and the changes in land management of the longleaf forest and it's various ecosystems,with much insight to the controlled burning philosophy that has gained in popularity during the last 50 years or so.....with photos, including some impressive shots of long-gone virgin growth trees dwarfing the grown men standing among them.

Best book on longleaf yet........2005-09-08

This book is as accurate and detailed as any scholarly paper but is written so well that it is certain to be a classic of literature like Archie Carr's "The Windward Road."

America's Rain Forest.......2004-11-23

For years I have been concerned about the disappearance of the South American Rain Forest. What was shocking from Earley's book is how we had our own expansive Forest with it's own ecosystem and let it disappear before our very eyes without anyone noticing.

It is not only a wonderfully told story of the Longleaf pine but it is a genuine history of how the South's economic development between the time of the settlers and up until today nearly destroyed it's most valuable resource and the ecology that was a part of it.

The only problem with this book was not being able to put it down after I started reading it.

Average customer rating:

Wildfire
Taylor Morrison
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0618509003

Book Description

Every summer, wildfires spread through the forests of the western United States, threatening homes and entire communities in their paths. Hundreds of firefighters work tirelessly to control this extremely powerful and unpredictable force of nature. But despite the seemingly devastating effects of wildfires, they also play an essential role in forest ecosystems. For anyone who has ever been fascinated by the awesome power of fire, or intrigued by the courageous and carefully coordinated efforts of firefighters, Taylor Morrison's beautiful and thoroughly researched book takes a comprehensive look at wildfires, their causes, and the methods employed to control them.

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