The Thirtymile Fire: A Chronicle of Bravery and Betrayal [Paperback]

John N. Maclean (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0805083308 | ISBN-13: 978-0805083309 | Publication Date: May 27, 2008

“Pitilessly compelling, the sort of saga devoured in one horrified sitting.”—National Geographic Adventure

The Thirtymile Fire in the North Cascade Range near the Canadian border of Washington began as a simple mop-up operation; in a few hours, a series of catastrophic errors led to the entrapment and deaths of four members of the fire crew—two teenage girls and two young men. Each had brought order and meaning to their lives by joining the firefighting world. Then the very flames they pursued turned on them, extinguishing their lives. 

Weaving together the astonishing stories told by the fire’s witnesses and, later, the victims’ family members and the response to the official reports, John N. Maclean creates a riveting account of the deadly Thirtymile Fire and the controversy and recriminations that raged in its aftermath.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On July 9, 2001, the hot exhaust of a state vehicle on fire patrol ignited the major Libby South Fire in the North Cascades Range in central Washington State. When a smaller blaze broke out later that evening some miles to the north in the narrow Chewuch River canyon near the Canadian border, resources were already stretched, and only a small, rookie-laden crew was deployed. This Thirtymile Fire should have been a simple operation, but instead it blew up into a towering inferno of double fire-plumes spinning tornado-like in opposite directions, scorching 9,324 wildland acres. In two weeks, 1,000 firefighters and dozens of helicopters, bulldozers and other heavy equipment were deployed, costing $4.5 million and the lives of four fire fighters. A controversial official investigation claimed that the firefighters defied authority and bore responsibility for their own deaths. Maclean (Fire and Ashes) interviewed families, survivors, investigators and fire experts, and the result is an evenhanded, lucid re-creation of catastrophe and its aftermath. The author gives a human face to national headlines, capturing the dignity and sense of mission of the lost firefighters, such as Karen FitzPatrick, age 18, a born-again Christian who sought, through firefighting, to "resolve the ageless conflict between the desires of the spirit and those of the flesh." (June 1)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Maclean follows up Fire on the Mountain (1999)and Fire and Ashes (2003)with another gripping account of natural disaster. The "Thirtymile Fire" snuck up on firefighters who were cleaning up after an earlier blaze in Washington State, near the Canadian border. Sparked by an untended campfire, the fire (which was named for is closest geographical landmark, Thirtymile Peak) didn't appear to be much of a threat. But fire is unpredictable, and soon firefighters were in the midst of a raging and deadly inferno. Maclean takes us inside the fire and puts us beside the men and women trying to tame it. Ultimately, it's a tragic story--some members of the firefighting crew died--but it's also an exciting and educational one. Maclean teaches us plenty about how forest fires behave and about the people who risk their lives to fight them. We come away from the book with a better understanding of the intricate relationship between humans and nature. Recommend this exciting account to readers familiar with Maclean's previous books or those of Stephen J. Pyne and Norman Maclean, the author's father. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks (May 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805083308
• ISBN-13: 978-0805083309
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,453 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #59 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Forestry

More About the Author

John Norman Maclean, a longtime Washington journalist and now a prize-winning author, has published three books on wildland fire and is working on a fourth, about the 2006 Esperanza Fire in Southern California that took five firefighter lives and the subsequent conviction and sentence to death of Raymond Oyler for starting the fire. Maclean's most recent published book is The Thirtymile Fire: A Chronicle of Bravery and Betrayal.
"For 15 years I have walked where firefighters walked, taken fire classes with them, addressed their meetings, listened to their stories -- that's the best part, along with the hikes. And I've tried to make their high-adrenalin, high-risk existence familiar to general readers, so they can better appreciate and understand the service these exceptional men and women provide. Best job I ever had."
Maclean, a reporter, writer and editor for The Chicago Tribune for 30 years, resigned from the newspaper in 1995 to write Fire on the Mountain, a critically acclaimed account of the 1994 fire on Storm King Mountain in Colorado that took the lives of 14 firefighters. The book, a national bestseller, received the Mountains and Plains Booksellers award as the best non-fiction of 1999.
Underground Films, Inc. has developed a script from the book for a full-length feature movie and is seeking a director. A two-hour docu-movie by the History Channel based on Fire on the Mountain won the Cine Master's Award for Excellence as the best non-fiction or fiction documentary of 2003. Harper Collins is scheduled to publish an updated edition of the book in its Harper Perennial line in December, 2009.
Maclean, the son of famed author Norman Maclean (A River Runs through It) has helped edit two of his father's books: Young Men and Fire and The Norman Maclean Reader, which the University of Chicago Press published in November, 2008. Maclean was a Washington correspondent for The Tribune for almost two decades. He was one of the "Kissinger 14," the small group of media who regularly traveled with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during the era of "shuttle diplomacy." Maclean went on to serve as the Tribune's foreign editor. He was a Nieman Fellow in Journalism, a mid-career fellowship for journalists at Harvard University, for the academic year 1974-75.
Maclean maintains a website at johnmacleanbooks.com.
He divides his time between his family cabin at Seeley Lake, Montana, and Washington, D.C. Maclean has a wife, Frances, and two sons: Daniel, a science teacher and author of Paddling the Yukon River and its Tributaries and Paddling Alaska, and John Fitzroy, a public defender.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars firewife, June 15, 2007

By 

G. Mabery "firewife" (Arizona , USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Thirtymile Fire: A Chronicle of Bravery and Betrayal (John MacRae Books) (Hardcover)

Maclean did an excellent job of portraying the events that unfolded during that fateful day, and that was no easy task, given the confusion and miscommunications that transpired. At times I felt as though I was right there. Parts of the book brought me to tears, while others parts made me so angry at the bureaucratic mess, backtracking and second-guessing. This book is a MUST read for anyone in fire, it can happen to you! I have a personal interest in the book, my husband and son both are wildland firefighters. The legal ramifications, yet to come, are being closely watched, for they will determine the future path of fire fighting

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars John Maclean Matures....., July 12, 2007

By 

Charles J. Possee (Monte Vista, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Thirtymile Fire: A Chronicle of Bravery and Betrayal (John MacRae Books) (Hardcover)

John's fire knowledge has favorably increased since "Fire on the Mountain". I think the subtitle "A chronical of bravery and betrayal" is hokey, he needs to lose the Hollywood drama. But, a riveting book for wildland firefighters.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important Book, March 3, 2009

By 

Daniel R. Becker (Prairie City, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Thirtymile Fire: A Chronicle of Bravery and Betrayal (John MacRae Books) (Hardcover)

Really a must read for the Squad Boss to the Fire Chief.
Not always a fan of the author, but without his book many of the details of this tragedy would never have been told. This story needed to be told. I retired as a fire manager in 2004, four years after 30 mile. I never heard the full story of this disaster in a way that could help to save lives in the future. I know some of the people from this story and some who could not tell their story. There is more here to tell...

This disaster changed many policies for the better. Reading this may remind people that those polices remain essential to the safety of our firefighters.

Good job John!