Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

John Maclean's "FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN" is subtitled "The True Story of The South Canyon Fire," and it is indeed the true story. Because the truth about what happened on that awful day in 1994 is so convoluted, so complex and multi-layered, and so strewn with conflicting viewpoints and cumulative errors and circumstances, writing the true story would have been impossible for anyone intimately involved with the fire. Maclean, however, brings his formidable background as a 30-year journalist to the story, and he makes the setting, the background, and the tragedy come alive for his readers.

With meticulous attention to detail and the unflagging search for facts that only a professional journalist can bring to bear, Maclean waded through stacks and years of documents, reports, interviews, and background material to produce a book that exceeded all expectations. The subjects of the book - wildland firefighters and wildland fire managers in state and federal land management agencies - nearly all agree that it's an accurate portrayal of both the South Canyon Fire and also the world of wildland fire. It's honest, it's well researched, and it's a compellingly good read. It explains and answers the many questions that nagged those of us in fire after the 1994 season.

If you're in fire, or you know someone who is, this book is mandatory.

I was privileged to read this book twice as bound galleys and now a third time in finished form. With each reading I find myself again caught up in the events of July 6, 1994 in western Colorado. I am drawn deeper into the lives of wildland fire fighters and the exciting, dangerous job they have. "Fire on the Mountain" accurately portrays these modern day heroes as they become caught within a modern day tragedy that is the South Canyon Fire. Event though I was closely involved in the incident and know many of the details presented in this book, I learned a lot from it and found it hard to put down. When I had to put it down, I couldn't wait to pick it up again.

This is a detailed, accurate and captivating narrative. Fire on the Mountain is truly a service to the fire fighting community because it dispels many of the inevitable myths and rumors about the South Canyon Fire. In 1996, I jumped a fire with Eric Hipke who was one of the most fortunate survivors on South Canyon. He said he was impressed by the efforts John Maclean was making to write this book. In April of 1995, Maclean quit a long-time career at the Chicago Tribune where he had been an editor, correspondent and reporter. He spent the next 4 1/2 years researching and editing material for Fire On the Mountain. The bookÕs thoroughness and accuracy reflect his professional experience and talent. John tirelessly researched every aspect of the story. Of the 49 firefighters at South Canyon, 35 lived. John interviewed 30 survivors. He gathered photos, dispatch logs and copies of anything that was written during or after the fire. Firefighters on the fire reviewed every chapter. This is the most authoritative work done on the fire. Much more detailed than the official report which took 45 days to complete. Maclean's account is very readable.

Like "The Perfect Storm" and "Into Thin Air", Maclean's book is a modern tale of young physically fit people whose lives are snuffed out by the forces of nature. This time, however, the victims engaged in the risk in order to help others, which makes their deaths all the more tragic. Maclean's account reads like a novel and it is obvious that he knows this material well. His moment by moment description of the firefighters' attempted escape as the flames bore down on them is breathtaking. Overall, an excellent and heartbreaking true adventure story.

Not only does this obviously well-researched book make fascinating reading, but it highlights valuable lessons for students and observers of and participants in any organizational bureaucracies. Many times in different fields of government endeavor we have seen inter-agency rivalries and ill informed management decisions cause serious problems in the functioning of public services, but seldom with such tragic and fatal results. I would suggest that professors of Public Administration courses make this work required reading, particularly in the area of supervision of public safety agencies. All this aside, anyone who enjoys non-fiction will find this book impossible to put down.

Maclean's work, "Young Men and Fire" starts to unravel myriad layers involved in modern firefighting and just why these layers can, have and will turn deadly. The number of "players" in the begining of the book can prove difficult to keep track of, but each is well researched and given a chance to speak. Although Maclean's opinions are not held back he does offer several different points of view contrary to his own and others. Despite a feeling that Maclean may be "blaming through hindsite" his offering comes closest to the fear and finality of working a wildfire gone bad. Perhaps Maclean's message, as was his father's, is that we haven't learned from the past. This is pointed up yet again in the near-tragedy this past summer in Nevada; that of six young firefighters being trapped on a ridge while a wildfire took a run at them. This incident wasn't made public til recently and the "blame" was the same as Mann Gulch, Storm King Mountain and the next blow-up that takes the lives of firefighters. Maclean's opinions aside, the book is a great read with an underlaying message of, "Never forget these lessons, let their sacrifices be enough."

This is every bit the read as any of the top selling non fiction "adventure" books such as The Perfect Storm, Into Thin Air, The Endurance, etc. If you liked these books, you'll not be able to put this one down. Much better than the author's fathers account of the Mann Gluch tragedy. I thought it was extremely well researched, and written with the objectivity of a seasoned journalist. I wish Mr. MacLean many months of success at the top of the New York Times Best Seller's List!

First of all, to qualify myself, I am an engineer that graduated from Montana State University in Dec 2000, and paid for most of my education by working summers in Montana as a U.S. Forest Service Firefighter. I have been on Type 1 and Type 2 hand crews, served time on a helitack crew, been an engine slug, and injured myself beyond repair as a Rookie Smokejumper in Missoula, Montana, and traveled the length and breadth of Western North America fighting wildfires. I may not have as many qualifications as some secret squirrels, but I almost certainly have less ego and better attitude.

In my opinion, this is a very good book, but must be read with the offical government report published in 1994 and the Fire Chonology Report published by the Fire Research Lab of Missoula in 1999, under the heading of "Research Paper RMRS-RP-9, Fire Behavior Associated with the 1994 South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain, Colorado" This is available online at www.fs.fed.us/rm/.

There is much that I now know that I was afraid to ask before. Much of what I had known has been from the offical report published in 1994, and from the little bit that I have heard in discussions around campfires. I personally know more than a few jumpers and have many as close, personal friends, and have been on fires with some of those who were survivors of Storm King, but have been loath to ask them about the incident, not knowing how deep or painful the scar might be. So, this book serves for me, as I am sure it will serve for other Wildland Firefighters, as "The Offical View From Ground Zero", the Author having done the painful task of asking the painful questions.

Between this very important book and the "Fire Behavior Chronology Report", many of my opinions and perspectives have changed, very many questions have been answered, and more questions have arisen. Hopefully, these questions, in time, will be answered as well.

As a Forest Service Firefighter who had intentions of becoming a jumper, but washed due to injuries, MacLean's book, as his father's, shall always be near and dear to my heart. I find great satisfaction that John MacLean has taken up his father's role as the powerful, authoritive, wise, and compassionate voice of the "Protector of the Troops", probing into places where we cannot go and asking questions that we dare not ask, and letting us, the "family" of Wildland Firefighters, know what he has found in as fair and unbiased a manner as anyone could.

The book also made me more aware of the Champions throughout various Federal and State Agencies who have fought valiantly to protect some shred of integrity of the Seasonal Wildland Firefighter, and not play the "Blame Game" as we all have seen happen so often when things go wrong and a Government agency is involved. I feel deep gratitude toward Dick Mangan, Ted Putnum and all the others, too numerous to mention here, who have stood their ground and risked their careers for what was right.

This is not his father's book, nor is it his father's writing style, if you have read Norman Maclean's "Young Men and Fire", which tells the story of a parallel incident where 13 Smokejumpers died in 1949, you will see that his father's book is more literary and also deals with his own struggle to find meaning in the deaths of the 13 and also ernestly searches for the meaning of life itself. John's book is much more a reporter's story-- clinical and forensic in nature, and yet still shows its human side with subtle skill. Both books have their advantages and drawbacks, and comparing the two against each other is like comparing apples and oranges. Overall, this is a very good book in the realm of non-fiction story telling, and is well worth the price, the time and the effort.

I found the author's work very well done. Young Men and Fire is more literary in its accounts while Fire on the Mountain grips you from the start by letting you feel, hear, taste, thrist, and hurt. This is an exceptional book that recaptures the lack of leadership that is not on the Storm King Mountain on July 6th; but, of fire managers in the two largest wildland firefighting agencies in the country which results in the ultimate sacrifice of 14 courageous men and women. John Maclean takes you to the very basics in a business that cannot afford leadership compromises. Blame is an ignorant frame of reference for what is unclaimed responsibility in agencies who do not manage by the policies and regulations they are mandated to uphold. Many thanks to those who choose to protect the public lands from wildfire.

Maclean's meticulous research and fast-moving journalistic style make this book fascinating and exciting reading. His exploration of the collapse of command and control within two firefighting agencies should be studied by all who work within these agencies. Maclean's vivid descriptions of the environment on Storm King Mountain in July, 1994, will live long in your memory. If you are an outdoors person in the mountains of the Western U.S., you will likely never forget the lessons taught in this book.