Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894 (P.S.) (Paperback)

~ Daniel James Brown (Author)
Key Phrases: quarry office, flaming front, death swamp, Saint Paul, Skunk Lake, Pine City (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On September 1, 1894, Hinckley, Minn.—a thriving town with a population of more than 1,200, two railroads, a successful lumber mill and five hotels—was ravaged by a firestorm that grew out of a catastrophic convergence of two ordinary fires, high winds, hot weather and white pine forest. Brown, a textbook writer, gives a human face to natural calamity as he draws on firsthand survivor stories, such as those of his grandfather, who at nine was rescued from the disaster that killed his father, a Norwegian immigrant. A wide range of characters evoke the reader's pity and respect in these well-researched and highly readable pages. A black porter selflessly saves white passengers on a train engulfed in flames; a quick-thinking clergyman plunges into a river with a stranger's baby in his arms; and a survivor is haunted by the death screams of 127 of his neighbors in a swamp. With its pine forests obliterated in the firestorm that claimed more than 436 lives, Hinckley became a specter of its former self. Illustrated with period pictures, this deft slice of regional history will attract disaster and weather buffs as well as fans of Norman Maclean's standout Young Men and Fire. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In 1894, smoke and the reek of it weren't unusual in the northernmost U.S. with its miles of pine forest. Lumber companies pursued the equivalent of strip-mining, sans any cleanup, and in hot, dry weather, branches stripped from trunks and the -forest-floor detritus became tinder for hundreds of sudden fires. On September 1, two big fires south of Hinckley, Minnesota, combined under weather conditions conducive to firestorms. By nightfall, Hinckley and three nearby hamlets were no more. More than 436 persons were incinerated, and some 400 square miles were so thoroughly burned that the soil was rendered useless. Brown, whose maternal grandfather was an 11-year-old survivor, tells the story of that day in clean, precise, fluid prose, maintaining focus on those who fled to communicate some of their terror as they ran from flames moving as fast as they and sometimes lethally faster. He weaves together the movements of his forebears and other Pine County residents as they fled, took shelter, and survived, were rescued, or perished, and the countermovements of the heroic train crews who came to their rescue. He also judiciously inserts explanations of such matters as firestorms, Norway-to-Minnesota immigration, death by burning, and an even more destructive precursor of the Hinckley disaster. Riveting, moving, white-knuckle reading to rank with classic accounts of the "perfect storm," Krakatoa, and other storied calamities. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (August 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006123625X
• ISBN-13: 978-0061236259
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #211,398 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #9 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Forestry > Fires
  #28 in	Books > History > United States > 19th Century > Turn of the Century
  #40 in	Books > History > United States > State & Local > Minnesota

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unimaginable horror in the woods of Northern Minnesota, July 17, 2006

By	Paul Tognetti "The real world is so much more... (Cranston, RI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894 (Hardcover)

When the citizens of Hinckley, Minnesota arose on Saturday, September 1, 1894 it looked for all the world to be just another ordinary Saturday. Some folks had to work at the Brennan Lumber Mill. For others there was washing to do and provisions to be picked up in town. The children might well spend part of the day fishing or maybe picking cranberries in the nearby bogs. And as for the engineers on the St Paul and Duluth and Eastern Minnesota railroads, they simply had no idea of the calamity there were about to encounter in the towns of Pokegama, Sandstone and Hinckley later that day. "Under A Flaming Sky" is the gripping true story of the mammoth firestorm that engulfed these towns on that fateful Saturday. Author Daniel James Brown, a direct descendant of two of the Hinckley survivors, offers up an incredible book that captures all of the trauma, all of the heartbreak and the unspeakable pain and heroism that emerged on that day. It is a book you will find hard to put down.
Imagine suddenly being caught in a firestorm where temperatures reached 1600 degrees Fahrenheit. Now small brush and forest fires were quite common in these parts in those days so most folks had absolutely no warning about the debacle they were about to face. In "Under A Flaming Sky" Daniel James Brown focuses on a number of families and how they attempted to cope with an impending disaster. Some would manage to escape but many others were not so lucky. You will meet many ordinary people who did extraordinary things. Twenty five year old Tommy Dunn was a telegrapher working at the St. Paul and Duluth depot in Hinckley. Despite the impending disaster Dunn stayed on the job just trying to keep the lines of communication open for as long as he possibly could. Tragically, he would lose his life in the process. Read about the heroics of engineers James Root, Edward Barry and William Bennet Best and discover how they somehow managed to assist so many citizens in getting out of harms way. And finally, you will find out why the lessons that were learned from the Hinckley fire were instrumental in ushering in an era of better fire management all over America.
"Under A Flaming Sky" is an extraordinarily well written book. Daniel James Brown is a terrific storyteller who puts his readers right into the heart of this incredibly desperate situation. You'll discover the split second choices people were forced to make and the ultimate consequences of those choices. You will also learn about the unlikely confluence of atmospheric conditions that occured on that fateful day that would allow such a firestorm to come together in the first place. In so many ways it really was the "perfect storm". Highly recommended!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get a glass of wine and sit a spell, May 30, 2006

By	D @ Paradise Lake (Woodinville, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894 (Hardcover)

I started reading this- a chapter each evening. About a third of the way through, I got hooked and read straight through to the end in one sitting. I don't normally come to Amazon to write reviews- but this story is worth the read. I enjoyed this more than Isaac's Storm by Eric Larson, which got a lot of press a few years back. If you liked Endurance or the Johnstown Flood, you'll love this book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone interested in Americana..., May 15, 2006

By	Shawnna Wishman "avid reader" (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894 (Hardcover)

I got this book last week and since I had to fly cross-country, I figured it would help me pass the time during my flight. Not only could I not put it down, but I my husband (who rarely reads) and I fought over it all weekend when he decided he wanted to read it too! I had to physically force myself to stop reading at 2:00 am early one morning because I had to get some sleep! Mr. Brown writes such compelling prose that, at times, it's easy to forget that this book is a work of non-fiction that this terrible fire swept through Minnesota, leaving destroyed towns and families in its wake. It's hard to comprehend trying to escape a fire of this magnitude, only to survive and discover that your family, house, land and everything you own is gone. Mr. Brown's minute by minute account of the Hinckley fire of 1894, interspersed with details regarding the evolution of the fire from a few burning embers to total firestorm, weather science, burn and infection treatments of the late 1800s, make this book both an engrossing and educational find.