Customer Reviews

The Thirtymile Fire: A Chronicle of Bravery and Betrayal

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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.

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!

I have spent over 30 years in wildland fire, 29 of those on the line. Most of my work has been as a Division Supervisor or Type 3 IC. This book hits the nail on the head in the fact that the bureaucrats will always try to blame the line personnel for any entrapment/burnover incident. I was in a shelter deployment once and was crucified for it. Of course that's a long story, but I was vindicated in the end. But before that, judgment was passed by those without the experience to know what they are talking about. Maclean does a good job digging into this phenomenon. Blame the dead people is standard operating procedure for the agencies in wildland fire. Ken

I have enjoyed all the MacClean books. They are well written and pay attention to detail without losing the interest of non fire folks. The latest book is methodical in its countdown to this disaster and accurately identifies all the seemingly innocuous events that added up to the catastrophic ending. I too am a fire investigator but I did have some difficulty understanding his description of the landscape and topographical features thought to contribute to the blowup phenomenon. A few more drawings and/or photographs would have been beneficial. All in all I enjoyed the book and believe he did a wonderful job memorializing the firefighters who lost their lives.

I enjoyed this book. The events before, during, and after the deaths were riveting. Also, as somebody who knows little to nothing about wildland firefighting, I enjoyed the author "touching" on technical aspects of firefighting without weighing the story down throughout.
While I think the "humanizing" of the victims was a bit sensational, the author also doesn't spend a lot of time doing it. And finally, it's a tight, crisp story that hasn't been fattened up just to be able to sell a thicker book. Overall, I think it's a true-to-life tragic thriller that you don't have to be involved with forest firefighting to enjoy.

Every fire season hundreds of brave and dedicated young firefighters descend on our nation's forests to contain the devastation of wildfire. The Thirtymile Fire: A Chronicle of Bravery and Betrayal is John Maclean's latest exposé of wildfire mismanagement, where everything that can go wrong often does, and with tragic consequences. An experienced wildfire researcher and an inspired storyteller, Maclean takes us through a step-by-step narrative of this July 2001 disaster, where a series of seemingly minor mistakes, compounded over the course of the day, led a group of firefighters into an entrapment zone resulting in the death of four of their members. As a wildfire investigative journalist, Maclean uses his considerable expertise to demonstrate how a conflagration of this magnitude actually creates its own weather pattern. As a first class storyteller, he offers a poignant personal tribute to those who put their lives on the line combating forest fire and to those who all too often pay the ultimate price.

This is a well written book that takes a look into a touchy subject. It is a book that can be used to prevent the mistakes that took place on this fire.It gives a look at why we have our 10's 18's.I would recommend this book to anyone who is involved in fire or considering to make a season or career in wildland firefighting.It is every firefighters duty to review these incidents and try to prevent these tragedys from reoccuring.

John has a very easy writing style which makes it an enjoyable reading experience. The content in the book provides a lot of lessons to be learnt and studied. The issues discussed don't just focus on this one incident but can be applied worldwide. A must read for any Wildfire firefighter from the rookie to the leaders of these men and women. John discusses some of the "Human factors" that contributed to this disaster.

This is a comprehensive review of the ThirtyMile Wildland Fire in 2001 that claimed the lives of four Federal Forest Service firefighters compiled from all the survivors, investigators, government officials, witnesses, and families affected by this incident. The Official Report of this fire laid blame on the firefighters themselves for the loss of there lives, and the report made was taylored to protect upper-level managers and the Forest Service from blame.

Mr. Maclean sorts through all of it and presents a clear picture of the events that transpired before, during, and after the incident where the time of the fire, the lack of resources, communication breakdowns, environmental rules, fatique, failure to follow fire safety rules, and tunnel vision lead to this tragedy. This book addresses questions that were not asked in the official report. It goes onto describe what happened to those in charge, and what did not happen to those administrators involved.

As a result of this fire, along with the 1994 Storm King Fire that killed 14 federal wildland firefighters, this book describes how through legislation the investigation responsibilities for large incidents shifted from in-house Forest Service to unprepared and unqualified outside government investigators. As a result of this political shift an overzealous US Attorney leveled four charges of manslaughter and five charges of lying to investigators about what happened at the fire, almost five years after the incident happened.

Mr. Maclean also chronicles the almost absolute abandonment of the firefightes and survivors involved in this incident, the heartless measures the Forest Service showed to families involved, and the failure of the wildland fire system involving the US Forest Service.

This book is important to all firefighters because the potential exists now for Fire Incident Commanders to be criminally charged if an injury or fatality occurs on a wildland fire incident, and what it may lead to in the future. Anyone involved in wildland / forest firefighting should read this book and learn from it.