Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

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.

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?

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 ėdown-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

Doug Gantenbein turns what should have been an excellent subject in to a politcal diatribe. The conclusion drawn by the author are not supported by the facts sited in his book. There are also a number of assumptions which Mr. Gantenbein tries to pass as facts.
The book is so riddled with errors and leaps of logic, that it can not possibly be thought of a reliable look at firefighters of the Forest Service.

The only positive thing I can say about this book is that I feel fortunate not to have spent any money to obtain a copy; on the other hand I feel that the time I spent reading 'A Season of Fire' was time robbed from me forever.

Douglas Gantenbein demonstrates in this book and in other writings that he in fact has very little understanding of the true nature of the fire service. My copy of his book was a gift; I'd certainly not have paid money for it myself.

If you're looking to read about wildland firefighting, get a copy of Sebastian Junger's 'Fire' instead.

It is difficult to be the least bit convinced of Mr. Gantenbein's argument for a scaled down approach to firefighting, when his premise is so full of glaring errors: a pulaski as combination hoe and pick; Missoula as the headquarters for Forest Service Region 6. I'm not sure where he got his information on the Storm King Mountain tragedy, but his implication that ground crews were informed of the Red Flag warnings is far from true. He also mentions how fresh the Prineville crew looked after their "stiff hike in." They were ferried in by helicopter. This may sound horribly nitpicky, but you cannot be expected to make a convincing argument for anything until you have your most basic facts straight.

Giving him 1 star is too much credit for this Firemen
basher. Writing a book is the real CUSHY job!

This book is not only poorly written and organized, but its author insults and mocks the profession of firefighting. While the author may have some valid points about the hyping up of firefighters following 9-11; the way he insults and attacks the profession is shameful. As a firefighter and paramedic, I sincerely hope that people realize that this author is certainly doing a disservice to the thousands and thousands of professional and volunteer (which far outnumber professionals) firefighters worldwide.

I went to high school and was friends with one of the firefighters killed in the 30 mile fire. I find Gantenbein's book to be poorly researched and an affront to the memory of these fallen heroes. Gantenbein has shown through a recent article on MSN that he holds the firefighting profession in disdain and he believes them to be no more than lazy, uneducated slackers who have "cushy" jobs and have duped the public into believing they are indispensable. I won't go so far as to say "don't waste your time," but be forewarned the author has an agenda.

First off, I actually did read this book some time ago.

The mistakes in it are definately pathetic. Its amazing how making a simple mistake like screwing up the fact that I-90 runs through Missoula can destroy all your journalistic credibility. A Google search on "Jane Swift" reveals she was the governor of Massachusetts. Last time I checked, Boston wasn't exactly Big Sky Country. But I guess I would have been a feeling a little frustrated and lazy if I had spent all season digging line with a "half-pick, half garden hoe," though, too.

In advocating that firefighting efforts be basically abandoned, this guy fails to realize that a good chunk of the economy around here depends on fire paychecks. That might be a little disturbing to some people, but its the truth. As for the firefighter/overhead bashing, I spent five seasons fighting fires and just about every agency employee I knew -- from IC level down to the GS-2 -- was dedicated to doing an efficient, safe, and thorough job. But there are some pretty glaring institutional problems out there. For example, there is absolutely no quality control on contract crews. Some of them could run circles around Shot crews, and others are so bad that they make you average DOT road crew like the Marine Corps. And then last summer, the tragedy on a remote fire outside Salmon, ID, where two Helitackers were killed because they were apparently left on the ground with fire below them and no escape route -- including the helicopter, which had been diverted somewhere else. There is no reason those guys are dead, except for stupid bureaucratic mistakes.

There is no denying that there are problems that need to be fixed, and I'm glad people are trying to point out solutions. But maybe it is better left to people like Pyne and MacLean who know the ropes.