Fire Line: Summer Battles of the West [Hardcover]

Michael Thoele (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 1995 | ISBN-10: 1555912176 | ISBN-13: 978-1555912178 | Edition: First Edition

1995 1st Ed. Falcrum

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing; First Edition edition (April 27, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555912176
• ISBN-13: 978-1555912178
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #905,565 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The very best book available on Western wildfires, September 20, 1998

By 

Kelly Andersson ([e-mail]) (Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fire Line: Summer Battles of the West (Hardcover)

Mike Thoele is one of the few humans truly qualified to write a book that accurately portrays the culture and the people of wildland fire. And he has done a spectacular job of it with this fine book.

Since the major rager fires of 1910, Americans have fought wildfires in the forests and grasslands and deserts of the West. The summer warriors who take on these battles are a breed apart, and Thoele explains why. He shows us, with an impressive collection of photos, and tells us, with well-crafted stories, who they are and what they do. From tanker pilot Laddie Lash's breath-taking canyon dives, to exhausted firefighters sleeping in a pile in the dirt, to the "generals" plotting strategy in the command center of the war on wildfire, Thoele takes us there.

If you've made a 20-year career of it, or if you know nothing of wildfire and have not even seen a wilderness fire camp, you will learn from this book what it's all about. Thoele portrays the people who are bitten by the fire bug, the men and women who go back, year after year, to do battle with the dragon of fire, both accurately and dramatically. Every bit of this impressive book is right-on and readable, even for those who have but a passing interest in wildfire.

Perhaps the best reviews, though -- or the most credible reviews -- are those of the firefighters themselves, and I have heard from dozens of them what they think of this book. They call it a masterpiece.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Firefighter's View..., December 26, 2000

By 

Neal Maben "waterdog" (Lakeview, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fire Line: Summer Battles of the West (Hardcover)

When I first picked up a copy of Michael Thoele's Fire Line, I was quite skeptical, having served 5 years in the late 1990's as a Region One Firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service in Montana while working my way through college to earn an engineering degree at Montana State University. All too often, Books, Documentaries, and movies leave much to be desired when it comes to correctly describing the world of Wildland Firefighting and the characters that inhabit that world. After having read the work completely, I must say that I am very impressed. I have read it now more than a few times, and still return to it when I feel the need to keep alive all the wonderful memories of the unique people that I met and the experiences that we shared.

Having started out as an "Engine Slug" on the Gallatin National Forest, and having worked my way up and around the fire eschelons-- serving as a helitack crew member, eventually earning my quals as an Incident Commander, and serving my time as a Rookie Smokejumper in Missoula, I have seen and done much that Mr. Thoele accurately describes. I think what makes the book work so well is that the author lets the book be itself. By this, I mean that many of the stories and photos are those related to and given to the author. The research for this book is absolutly top-notch, [as it MUST be], and takes nothing away from the fast-paced, hard-hitting, gritty and spine-tingling stories related by the author.

In my opinion, this is the finest book currently on the market that documents Wildland Firefighting in the western United States, both in scope and depth. It is a fitting tribute to all Wildland Firefighters, Past, Present and Future.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now More than Ever, August 9, 2000

By 

John N. Maclean (Seeley Lake, Montana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fire Line: Summer Battles of the West (Hardcover)

It's been several years since Mike Thoele wrote his fine book, but it's still a valuable primer on the people who fight wildland fire. With catastrophic fires burning across the West this summer of 2000, the worst fire season in half a century, it's worth taking another look at Fire Line. When we venture into the woods, especially to build a home or cabin, we should remember who we put at risk. Thoele's book puts faces on firefighters: they could be neighbors or friends; they could be ourselves. Making a dwelling fire-safe is not the most expensive or difficult job in the world, but it gives firefighters like the ones in Thoele's book a better chance of making it home at the end of a 14 day shift, some of those days 24 hour days. Thoele's book is a colorful, readable and pleasant telling of the story of the wildland firefighter.