A Season of Fire: Four Months on the Firelines of America's Forests [Hardcover]

Douglas Gantenbein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2003

On July 10, 2001, in northern Washington state, a rain of burning embers trapped two civilians and thirteen firefighters in a steeply walled canyon. With a roar heard thirty miles away, flames and black smoke swept overhead-leaving four firefighters dead.

This tragic story lies at the heart of A Season of Fire, a compelling narrative that begins in mid-May 2001 with dire early weather predictions, follows the training of thousands of new firefighters, and culminates in mid-September as the year's final blazes are extinguished and controversy erupts over the July deaths.

Journalist Douglas Gantenbein takes readers behind the scenes of smokejumpers' training and travels to the locations of the summer's most dramatic fires: Wyoming's Jackson Fire, in which millions of dollars were spent in an attempt to save a group of million-dollar homes; the Arthur Fire, which closed Yellowstone Park's eastern entrance for two weeks; and the Fridley Fire, which torched 50,000 acres of Montana woodlands in less than six hours.

In a fascinating exploration of the science and economics of firefighting, Gantenbein dramatically depicts the tinderbox that is the American West.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this thoroughly engaging and thought-provoking book, Gantenbein, a writer for Sports Illustrated and Outside magazines, traveled from state to state covering major fires during the summer of 2001 to show "the strengths and weaknesses of how wildland fire is fought in the Western United States." Gantenbein has the knack for presenting complex material in a direct and exciting style, and as he explains the intricate differences among fires in Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park and Montana, he conveys an amazing amount of material related to fires and firefighting: the use of Pulaskis, "the combination hoe and pick that is the essential tool in the firefighting arsenal"; why the Ponderosa pine is more dangerous than the Douglas fir; and the key differences between the physically exhausting work of smokejumpers and the elite hotshots, who dig the fireline. Gantenbein's detailed observations about both the science and the economics of fires and firefighting help him forcefully demonstrate that "the continuing war on forest fires is a waste of time, money and lives," and that new approaches to thinking about fires are needed to "get beyond the current poisoned atmosphere between environmentalists, the Forest Service, and the logging industry."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gantenbein follows the forest fire season of summer 2001, but in the process he also examines the evolution of firefighting techniques and the history of forests. Today's American forests, owing largely to changes in logging procedures and decades of you-can-prevent-forest-fires safety messages, are thicker than ever before. "Cycle fires," small fires that would periodically thin the forests and ultimately protect them from the bigger blazes that could wipe them out, have been substantially eliminated. Forests are crowded, and a crowded forest is one that can burn quickly and devastatingly, making firefighting an ever more dangerous occupation. Nicely connecting the historical material to the contemporary survey, Gantenbein examines some of summer 2001's most spectacular fires, including the Washington State blaze that took the lives of four firefighters. This is both a fascinating, detailed look at the men and women who risk their lives to protect the forests and a provocative call to action, stressing that our countryside might be in a lot more danger than we ever suspected. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher; First Edition edition (April 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585421766
• ISBN-13: 978-1585421763
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,219,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Full of error - revised, September 16, 2003

By 

"mjasumback" (Redding, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Season of Fire: Four Months on the Firelines of America's Forests (Hardcover)

With a fairly extensive reading history I have to say I do not think I have ever found a book so full of factual errors. These recurrent inaccuracies make this book a difficult read. Certainly there are better picks in this genre. Pyne's "The year of the fires" and Taylor's "Jumping fire" come to mind. Don't waste your money on this!!!
At the request of the author I am revising this review. Mr. Gantenbein has asked me to cite examples of error to wit:
I-84 runs east-west and does not travel through MT or WA and is 245 miles from Bozeman
MSU has no fire science program
Jane Swift was never governor of MT
A Pulaski is a combination hoe(mattock) and axe
Missoula is home to R1 headquarters not R6
I leave it to others to discuss the Storm King tragedy.
Having reread the book I still feel that there are better picks in the genre.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Burning with insults, November 2, 2003

By 

Elizabeth E. Plummer "Chiefs_A_Unit" (Biddeford, Maine United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Season of Fire: Four Months on the Firelines of America's Forests (Hardcover)

While the author recites events and history which are little fact, much fiction and speculation, he also degrades and insults the women and men who save thousands of lives every day in this country. Mr. Gantenbein even pokes fun at the way firefighters are honored when layed to rest. This author says "Firefighting isn't that dangerous", citing that "about 100 firefighter die each year". Many more firefighters die each year, not just in the immediate line of duty, also of heart attacks, smoke inhalation, and other complications directly related to this career. Mr. Gantenbein says "Firefighters play the hero card to it's limit." I disagree. In my experience, the majority of firefighters play down the "heroics" title and are just glad to have saved yet another life. This author's opinion is that firefighters have a "cushy" job. He states that as fact. As the wife of a Fire Chief, I speak from experience when I tell you that not much could be further from the truth. These men and women have dedicated their lives, literally, to saving the lives of your loved ones. They don't work an eight day shift with nights and weekends free; many times, holidays, family events & church are interrupted while the firefighters are called away to risk their lives to save another......to save a burning building with or without occupants; to stabilize a patient and transport them to the hospital.....the list goes on. If Mr. Gantenbein should need any of these services, who's he going to call? Ghostbusters?

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Gatenbein doesn't have a clue., December 24, 2003

By 

Jerry S. Dixon "aklightnin" (Seward, AK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Season of Fire: Four Months on the Firelines of America's Forests (Hardcover)

Here is a book you don't need to read.
Here is the quote that will live in infamy: "A
good place to start cost cutting is smokejumping. Theyíre brave, motivated,charismatic but they are far too expensive for the service they provide."
At least he got the first three right. Here is my answer: smokejumpers have proven over six decades that they are the most economical way to fight fires and they have saved the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars that otherwise would have been spent on project fires that once were considered a 'failure' but now are an opportunity.

Here is what should happen. The head of Forest Service and BLM should contact every base manager and ask, "What is the maximum number of jumpers your base can support and still operate at the level we have come to expect?" Then they need to say: "How can we support your operations to the fullest?" That is the way to save the taxpayer money. Stop one barnburner like the Oregon Biscuit Fire (remember that jumpers were available) and you have paid for all smokejumper operations for years.

Jumpers at McCall said they were stunned by Gatenbein's book as they had gone out of their way to give him a first class tour and answer questions. I wonder if he would have the guts to show up at any base again after writing, "Smokejumping took off in the 1940's when much of the west was inaccessible by road. That isnít the case anymore, and these days jumpers often float down within sight of an Interstate Highway...."

I jumped during two different decades and never once floated down in sight of a freeway. Even if there is a road nearby might sending jumpers still might well be the most expeditious way to man a fire, especially if it is on top of a mountain.

He goes on to say that since smokejumping was invented for 'wilderness fires' and those are the ones that 'should be left alone', the program should be ended. While I agree there are many areas where fire should again takes it's natural role in wilderness and road less areas, big fires don't stop at boundaries. The forest fire plans need to be clear and unambiguous. When suppression is called for, the jumpers should be called first as they are the quickest resource.

I remember in 1972 during my 2nd season at McCall talking with a Vietnam veteran helicopter pilot. He told me, "As soon as the war is over you jumpers will be out of business. There are so many combat tested pilots that will be released to fly helicopters on fires, jumpers will no longer be necessary."
Clearly, he was wrong. Jumping has evolved to meet new challenges and the
program is stronger now.

During the summer of 2002 I did traverses in seven mountain ranges of four states. With a friend I hiked from Chamberlain Basin to Big Creek across a section of the River of No Return wilderness. It is an incredible mosaic of different aged forests and burn patterns. Central Idaho is an area I have been fortunate to visit for 40+ years and I well remember when any fire, even in wilderness, was fought. That has changed and the jumpers have adapted. Yet, under the right conditions, fires can start in wilderness and burn down towns.

Certainly people who build homes surrounded by forest need to take responsibility for their homes. Nonetheless, as long as there are assets to protect and fires to manage, smokejumpers will be on the front line. All you need is stop one Biscuit fire disaster and the cost for the entire program would be covered for years!

Last winter I took my family ëdown-underí where I did a study on the Australian White Ibis. When we were there, New South Wales and other states were engulfed in flames. 5000 homes were destroyed, national parks and forests incinerated, and tragically, many firefighters and civilian died. The Sydney airport was smoked in and closed for days just before we were scheduled to leave. Then among all the bad news of fires torching the capital and incinerating even their planetarium, one article lit up the night and caught my attention,

"American smokejumpers have been dispatched to fires across Australia."

Jerry S. Dixon Biologist/Teacher of the Gifted
USFS/BLM/NPS smokejumper/FMO/Fire Ecologist