Product Description
Whether watching the images on TV or in real life, nearly everyone has witnessed the riveting scene of a fast, low-flying aircraft dropping torrents of water or retardant on a blazing wildfire. Fire Bombers in Action takes the reader inside the gritty world of aerial firefighting using both still photographs and dramatic video footage of these amazing aircraft and the men who fly them. Covering more than four decades of study and exposure to aerial firefighting in many regions of the United States, this book tells the story from the earliest attempts to combat dangerous and sometimes deadly wildfires with the use of aircraft. From primitive aerial operations in the 1920s to the use of converted World War II bombers in the 1950s and even jet transports today, author Frederick A. Johnsen covers it all. Noted for his life-long interest in this subject, Johnsen documents vintage and modern aircraft alike, and includes detailed appendices giving every possible detail of the aircraft types and specific airplanes used as fire bombers. ... Read more

Product Description
Even before the myth of Prometheus, fire played a crucial ecological role around the world. Numerous plant communities depend on fire to generate species diversity in both time and space. Without fire such ecosystems would become sterile monocultures. Recent efforts to prohibit fire in fire dependent communities have contributed to more intense and more damaging fires. For these reasons, foresters, ecologists, land managers, geographers, and environmental scientists are interested in the behavior and ecological effects of fires. This book will be the first to focus on the chemistry and physics of fire as it relates to the ways in which fire behaves and the impacts it has on ecosystem function. Leading international contributors have been recruited by the editors to prepare a didactic text/reference that will appeal to both advanced students and practicing professionals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Forest Fires: Behaviour and Ecological Effects
The book is aimed to bridge a gap between researcher and applied management.The covers a wide range of topics from fire combustion, to fuel moisture dynamics, the interaction between fire and its surrounding atmosphere, lightning ignition, fire effects and fire management.The chapters for each of these adequately deal with the topic, sometimes at a level which will beyond most people's ken.The book is missing a level of integration within and between chapters, which makes it difficult to appreciate the book's comprehensive nature.It would have been nice to have an overarching framework on fire behaviour and ecological effects to direct the writers of each chapter towards a central understanding of fires and their ecological effects.The book does cover fires and their effects in both northern and southern hemispheres.Some of the figures could have benefitted from being in colour.

Very sophisticated!!!
This is a book for someone who is SERIOUS about learning about wildfires. It is full of complex math formulas and many things that are beyond most readers. Read only if interested in highly technical data. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a comprehensive account of the behind-the-lines operations that preceded and supported the D-Day landings and the breakout from Normandy. The French resistance played a key role in undermining German resistance during the liberation of France in 1944.They destroyed vital railways, ambushed convoys and tied down large numbers of German troops in security patrols. Many attacks were spearheaded by British and American special forces, the SAS and US 'Jedburgh teams' (ancestors of the 'Green Berets'). From the early hours of 6 June 1944 to the destruction of the German army in France, this is the story of how small teams of SAS men fought their secret war behind enemy lines. ... Read more

Product Description

The wildfires that spread across Southern California in the fall of 2003 were devastating in their scale-twenty-two deaths, thousands of homes destroyed and many more threatened, hundreds of thousands of acres burned. What had gone wrong? And why, after years of discussion of fire policy, are some of America's most spectacular conflagrations arising now, and often not in a remote wilderness but close to large settlements?

That is the opening to a brilliant discussion of the politics of fire by one of the country's most knowledgeable writers on the subject, Stephen J. Pyne. Once a fire fighter himself (for fifteen seasons, on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon) and now a professor at Arizona State University, Pyne gives us for the first time a book-length discussion of fire policy, of how we have come to this pass, and where we might go from here.

Tending Fire provides a remarkably broad, sometimes startling context for understanding fire. Pyne traces the "ancient alliance" between fire and humanity, delves into the role of European expansion and the creation of fire-prone public lands, and then explores the effects wrought by changing policies of "letting burn" and suppression. How, the author asks, can we better protect ourselves against the fires we don't want, and better promote those we do?

Pyne calls for important reforms in wildfire management and makes a convincing plea for a more imaginative conception of fire, though always grounded in a vivid sense of fire's reality. "Amid the shouting and roar, a central fact remains," he writes. "Fire isn't listening. It doesn't feel our pain. It doesn't care-really, really doesn't care. It understands a language of wind, drought, woods, grass, brush, and terrain, and it will ignore anything stated otherwise."

Rich in insight, wide-ranging in its subject, and clear-eyed in its proposals, Tending Fire is for anyone fascinated by fire, fire policy, or human culture.

Customer Reviews (2)

Review of Tending Fire
"Tending Fire" by Steve Pyne is a landmark work. Modern society has lost its connection to the natural world, a connection that our ancestors depended upon and nurtured with fire. Pyne reveals the price of our foolish Faustian bargain to ignore our fire roots, and how our self-proclaimed "sophisticated" culture is continually staggered by natural forces we have forgotten how to deal with. Pyne's point is that man is a fire creature, unique among animals in our ability to create fire and to manipulate our world with fire. Our disconnect from our fire roots has had unfortunate consequences, including the catastrophic destruction of our forests and the wholesale alteration of other ecosystems. If we do not relearn how to tend fire, to produce it where and when we need to, then we will not be able to prevent or control the most destructive fires, the firestorm holocausts that threaten rural and urban America alike.

Plus, Pyne is a poet, a master wordsmith, and tons of fun to read.

The history of fires and human habitats around the world
Each summer wildfires destroy American communities and wreck havoc - yet there are 'good' fires, too: those which restore habitats and strike habitats which rely on them for ecological balance. How to cope? Stephen Pyne is an expert on fire, having spent fifteen seasons fighting fires in the Grand Canyon: he outlines in Tending Fire: Coping With America's Wildland Fires, a new paradigm for viewing American wildland fires, discussing the history of fires and human habitats around the world, and contrasting the pros and cons of current fire politics in the last decade.
... Read more

Product Description

Hinckley, Minnesota 1894

Carrie Vaughn and Daniel Johansson are both hoping desperately that the forest fires raging outside Hinckley won't reach town. Carrie has promised her Papa she'll take a train to safety, but she knows she won't -- how could she ever leave her beloved horse, Midnight, to die in the fire? And Daniel's grandmother refuses to leave their boardinghouse -- even if he can somehow raise the train fare.

When all the hoping in the world can't hold back the thick, suffocating smoke and uncontrollable flames, Carrie's disobedience and Grandma's stubbornness put them all in grave danger -- can they escape the merciless path of the fire in time? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A very good Survival book.
Thirteen-year-old Carrie's father told her to leave Hinckley on the train if the forest fire reached town - but Carrie doesn't want to leave her horse. Daniel, one of Carrie's friends, wants to leave Hinckley on thetrain - but he can't persuade his grandmother to come until it's too late.How will Carrie and Daniel manage to escape?

One of the best Survival! books.
Survival! Forest Fire is a very good book.The setting is realistic, and the characters act like real people might.For example, Carrie Vaughn, who's father is a volunteer firefighter, disobeys her father when he tellsher to take a train to St. Paul.She decides to stay with her horse,Midnight, instead.I think this action is realistic, although it isn't thesmartest thing to do in a fire. This book, I think, is a little moreexciting than the rest because some of the characters injure themselves,and that makes it harder to escape from the fire.This story was sort oflike Survival! Fire, but more exciting, as I have said.I think KathleenDuey and Karen A. Bale's description was fantastic.It really helped meimagine the setting in my mind.I would like to thank Kathleen Duey andKaren A. Bale on a job well done and encourage them to keep writing theseseries! ... Read more

Product Description
"The fate of humanity, like the fate of the earth, is tied to the fires that have made the world as we know it--the fires whose history is told as well in this book as it has ever been told before. If one wants to understand just how completely the story of the human past is also the story of fire on earth, there is no better place to start than this small book."--from the Foreword

Here, in one concise book, is the essential story of fire. To provide readers with a way of understanding fire's variable role in human endeavors, Stephen Pyne has fashioned a chronological structure for this book. Natural fire existed before human habitation, when lightning put flame on land. Anthropogenic fire occurred when hominids seized that spark and began recasting Earth to meet their needs and expectations. Industrial combustion arrived when humans began to burn fossil biomass from the geologic past.

Pyne describes the evolution of fire through prehistoric and historic times down to the present, examining contemporary attitudes from a long-range, informed perspective. Fire: A Brief History also surveys the principles behind aboriginal and agricultural fire practices, the characteristics of urban fire, and the relationship between controlled combustion and technology, particularly those tools and techniques that affect landscapes.

Fire's role in cities, suburbs, exurbs, and wildlands as shaped by the industrialized, Europeanized, urban way of thinking that prevails in most of the world is a subject the author covers brilliantly. "Questions of what kind of fires should exist," he writes, "are increasingly decided in urban centers based on urban values. The modern city's fire reach extends far beyond the range of its municipal fire department."

Fire: A Brief History will be of value to readers interested in the environment, whether from the standpoint of anthropology, geography, forestry, general science and technology, history, or the humanities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Completely Disappointed
I had to choose a book to review for a conservation class, since none of them were in stock in any bookstore I took an random chance ordering this one. I realize now that I made a bad decision. Pyne jumps all over the place in his writing, there is no clear linear track to the chapters while discussions jump from prehistoric people to European colonization. I understand the basics of what he is trying to say, that fire has been an integral part of the world for the past 500 million years but he does it in such a convoluted way that I honestly can't recommend this book to anyone.

Pyne's Fire in America
I find Pyne's writing not only expert in his content, but thoroughly enjoyable reading.Once I read one of his, I had to buy and read the others. Yes, he uses big words sometimes, yes, he quotes fine literature sometimes -- But I see these things as eloquence -- and I learn what I had not known.I'd sure like to meet him some day, and discuss some fires with him!

Unreadable
This book might contain some interesting information, but if it does it's hidden beneath an impenetrable layer of literary and poetic pretension. Every second sentence contains a simile or metaphor.... seriously! It gave me a headache trying to read it.
To communicate effectively, writing should be clear and direct. This book is anything but. Perhaps the author should read someone like Jarred Diamond to see how to bring an interesting topic to life.
It's a shame, because the list of chapters looks interesting. Perhaps someone else will write / has written a book covering similar territory.

Style overpowers substance
Pyne has won a deserved reputation as the leading cultural historian and philosopher of fire.This book should have been an opportunity to summarize his findings in a clearly written, easily read way for people who are unlikely to read his more detailed studies.Pyne does offer us many interesting observations and perspectives on the history of fire.Unfortunately, he imposes a pretentious "writerly" style on his material, making his book laborious to read.His self-conscious literary artistry obscures as much as it reveals.Many of his poetic statements are not explained with supporting facts.A more straightforward telling of this story would be welcome.

Use this book for kindling!!!
Ugh!May the lord have mercy on Weyerhaeuser for their misguided economic support of this book, which should stand forever as an object lesson in what happens when corporations start actually acting on their own airy-fairy mission statements.This book ought more accurately be titled `a brief AND UNBEARABLE history of fire' --Pyne apparently fashions himself to be the dylan thomas of fire history, inundating us page after page with rompous and ridiculous artistic alliterations, with ceaseless inversions poetic, and anthropomorphisms that would be hilarious if not so awful. Can we possibly believe that fire is `unique to earth' (p. xv), where the `biotic broth broiled over' (p.3) and `humanity's restless hand and roving mind' (p. 7) is `the keeper of the vital flame'? Can we speak sensibly of fire when it appears like a ludicrous singles advert, `fickle if powerful', ignited by lightening... excuse me, I meant to say ignited by a force `relentlessly restoring electrical equilibrium'? Pyne, are you losing your mind? Fire deserves much better treatment than this goofiness.Use this book for kindling!!! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Best Book on the Subject
This book is a must read for any person interested in the cutlural effect of wild and rural land fire. The book is accessible to everybody, it is well writen and light on technical jargon. Pyne undertook a momentous task by writing this book, nothing like it exisited like it when it was first published in 1984, (sorry to the one review that stated that his older books were better, this is the first one, his other books are great supliments in the cycle of fire.) A GREAT BOOK.

Culture and Fire
Although there are any number of worthy books and articles on the ecological effects of fire (and of fire-suppression), Pyne's take on the ways in which humans have and still do use fire in manners which are as much conditioned by matters of tradition as well as those of rationality struck me as a novel way of looking at the subject.

As a child I gleefully participated in the annual raking of fallen tree leaves into piles and their subsequent destruction by fire. It seemed part of the natural order of things and was great fun. Although the community that I grew up in has long since banned the practice, it never occurred to me to reflect on the cultural norms behind the practice until I read this book. It is rather enlightening and humbling to see one's own behavior examined with the level of detachment and dispassion that an anthropologist might bring to some unfamiliar and seemingly bizarre practices of some isolated aboriginal tribe!

This book is no polemic, nor does it have any obvious agenda. I am unaware of any controversy over its contents. This is not to say that the author's views are not fresh and interesting.

The author is highly knowledgeable about his subject and previously published a highly acclaimed book about a tragic forest fire-fighting incident that resulted in the deaths of several fire-fighters. This book does not have the high drama of that work, but it is very well written and stimulating. A very good read, in my estimation. ... Read more

Product Description
This account of the calamitous fire of 1871-the deadliest in American history-is now available in a newly designed, expanded edition. Added to the original eye-witness account of Reverend Peter Pernin are new archival photographs of Peshtigo, before and after the fire, and an updated introduction that gives readers a fresh perspective on the fire that burned 2400 square miles and killed more than 700 people. Occurring on the same day as the famous Chicago fire, the Peshtigo fire resulted from similar causes: a prolonged drought, a concentration of wooden structures and rubble, and human carelessness. Readers of all ages will learn that from the scorched earth of Peshtigo came decisions about land and forest management that remain a part of Wisconsin and American history today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Quick and informative
There are not a lot of sources on the Great Peshtigo Fire, so we must read what is available. The fire in Wisconsin occurred on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, but Wisconsin's was much more devestating. One out of every two individuals lost their lives, amounting to more than 1,000 souls. The fire's heat swept through the area like a hurricane and became so intense that metal melted and things that had been buried underground in hopes of being saved were destroyed from the heat.

The book is just 64 pages from beginning to end, including two introductions and bibliography, etc. The main story told by Peter Pernin has some drawbacks. Being written just a few years after the calamity the language is a bit quaint, with people described as having "great consternation" with the approaching flames. Also as Pernin was a Catholic priest he talks about seeing the "finger of God" in the fire, however many people there at the time felt the same way regardless of religious affiliation.

The magnitude of the fire demands more books with more research and information. Let's hope some authors and historians take up the challenge. ... Read more

Product Description
Brave Sassy is back with another thrilling adventure!

In this episode the entire city's firefighting stations are put on a massive alert. A gigantic forest fire is burning out of control just outside the city. Working in teams, each station works hard to help put out the forest fire until one of the crews becomes trapped when the wind shifts. They are surrounded by flames!

As soon as Sassy learns of this, she breaks away from the Fire Marshall and goes to rescue those brave, trapped firemen. She runs straight into the burning forest! There is no one as brave as our Sassy! ... Read more

Product Description
Beginning at the molecular level, The Book of Fire introduces nonscientists to the anatomy of heat, ignition, and flame progressing from how a twig catches fire to how an entire forest burns. To help readers understand the science of fire, William Cottrell illustrates combustion events that most people are familiar with: a flickering candle, a smoldering campfire, a slowly cooking marshmallow. He uses these illustrations to introduce readers to wildland fire behavior, fire types, and fuel levels indispensible information for firefighters and fire managers, as well as homeowners who live in the wildland-urban interface.The Book of Fire is also a good resource for city dwellers who want to know the contents of smoky air or understand what really happened when the local newspaper says a wildfire "made a run." A glossary contains the most up-to-date terminology used by firefighters and fire managers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The perfect starting place for the would-be firefighter
The second edition of William H. Cottrell Jr's classic The Book Of Fire introduces nonscientists to how heat, ignition and flame progress from a simple twig to acres of land. Combustion science is illustrated simply to survey differences between candles, campfires, and large fires, with plenty of more advanced discussions following on wildland fire behavior, fire types, and more. The perfect starting place for the would-be firefighter and fire manager.

outstanding
With this book you can understand all the amazing and sometimes complicated things about the chemistry and fisics of fire. It's an excellent book for students of all ages, and even for teachers. ... Read more

Product Description

Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction Honour Book, 2007

Silver Birch Express shortlist, 2008

Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice 2007 finalist

Canadian Science Writers' Association's Science in Society Journalism Award nominee, Youth Book category, 2007

It hasn't rained in the forest for many weeks. And in the sunny clearing, everything is dry and scorched. Then, late one afternoon, a hot wind begins to blow and storm clouds gather. But instead of rain, lightning fills the sky and strikes a tall tree beside the clearing. The lightning strike shoots down the tree and ignites the dry vegetation below. In no time, the forest is engulfed in flame. Soon there is nothing left but the charred ruins of the forest, devoid of life.

But the story is not over. Slowly and gradually, life returns to the forest - from the seeds that blow in on the wind and germinate, to the small creatures that have survived in their burrows below the ground. It will take many years; but eventually the forest will return, filled with life once more.

Product Description
The NYT A River Runs Through It. In 1949, a crew of U.S. Forest Service Smokejumpers parachuted into a Montana forest fire. In less than an hour, all but three were dead or mortally burned. Haunted by these deaths for 40 years, Maclean reconstructs the pieces print.Amazon.com Review
On August 5, 1949, lightning came crashing down in the vastspruce forest above Seeley Lake, Montana, and touched off a roaringblaze. As every Westerner knows, lightning means fire, but the firethat raged through Mann Gulch that day was huge--the sort that occursonly every few decades. A battery of paratrooper-firefighters, many ofthem fresh veterans of World War II, had been anticipating it, andeven looking forward to the chance to fight a great fire. Before theday ended thirteen of those smokejumpers lay dead, their charredremains evidence that something had gone terribly wrong. Norman Maclean givesa thorough account of the incident in language not meant for thesqueamish: "Burning to death on a mountainside is dying at least threetimes ... first, considerably ahead of the fire, you reach the vergeof death in your boots and your legs; next, as you fail, you sink backin the region of strange gases and red and blue darts where there isno oxygen and here you die in your lungs; then you sink in prayer intothe main fire that consumes." After August 1949, he notes, the ForestService came to recognize that not all fires need to be fought andthat fire benefits most forest ecosystems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (90)

A book you don't forget.
I would have rated this book four stars because it was edited and published posthumously, and therefore has a few rough spots one has to push through.Otherwise, it is a magnificent book covering all aspects of the Mann Gulch fire.Others have reviewed the story elsewhere in excellent manner.

However, this book earned back its fifth star.It is rare and amazing when the author, at one level writes a book of non-fiction that itself is so factual and compassionate.But the fifth star is earned for while he is doing this "work of nonfiction" at such a high level, you realize towards the end that while he is writing about this fire and the death of those 13 men, what he is really talking about is loving testament to his wife and of how she died.One rarely sees this ability displayed at such a high level.(As an aside, you will never view "A River Runs Through It" the same way after reading this book.)

Well written
Norman does a great job of making a book out of an event that took a few hours.
From the stories behind the characters to the understanding of fire fighting and the investigation of the event, there was always interest generated and the book was hard to put down for a break. A good read.

You are there on the hillside with the Young Men
A slim book carrying a powerful story.Written in Norman Maclean's unforgettable prose.Don't miss it.

Maclean over analyzes
What a stark difference to the Poetic " A River Runs Through it". This book is just a scientific analyzation of this history of the Forest Service. No Poetic nature of the "River". Who can explain the reasons... Maybe telling his own story was the only way to tap into the deep reminiscent type emotion. The "River" was a monumental book.

Emotionally and mentally gripping.
This book grabs you, by the heart as well as the mind.I found myself emotionally touched by the stories of those caught in the flames or narrowly escaping them. Maclean's words often connected with me at the gut level.I found myself flipping back to re-read certain sections for their impact.Nevertheless, this is no melodrama.Maclean does not resort to cheap sentimentality, as his words are often simple, but with an incredible depth of meaning that few authors can match.

Maclean sought to understand Mann Gulch and the tragedy, and his quest becomes the reader's.He communicates the depth of his own desire to understand what happened, particularly in those infamous few minutes that separated life from death for eleven men, though death was tragically slow for two more.People feared Maclean would die on the slopes of Mann Gulch, as a previous fire scientist, Harry Gisborne, had done while researching the area himself.

I highly recommend this book.It's a powerful story to begin with, but adding Maclean's talent makes it a must-read for everyone. ... Read more

Product Description
Fire is a fearsome constant in the America West. Everyone who lives in the West confronts fire intimately or frighteningly at some time. As the author David J. Strohmaier notes, "Whether we have tended a campfire along Oregon's Deschutes River in March, engaged the advancing front of a Great Basin wildfire in the torrid heat of August, or watched fire settle into the subdued, smoldering leaf piles of October, all of our lives, to one degree or another, are bracketed by fire." In The Seasons of Fire, Strohmaier effectively blends nature writing, personal essay, and philosophical analysis as he deliberately crosses disciplinary boundaries. He discusses the "moral" dimensions of fire-not only whether fires are good, bad or indifferent phenomena, but also how fire, more generally understood, shapes meaning for human life. The consequences of discussing the moral side of fire speak directly to the contours of the human soul, and to our sense of our place on the land.! Strohmaier, a long-term firefighter himself, includes accurate and sometimes gut-wrenching descriptions of the firefighter's experience, including the philosophical wanderings and the downright boredom that may dominate between direct confrontations with the searing, terrifying flames. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A masterful portrait
Dave Strohmaier masterfully paints us a portrait of wildfire in the West, drawing from a palette of sensitivity to the earth, gritty practical experience, humor, and skilled writing craft. He calls attention to the beauty of many elements of nature we take for granted, its paradoxes, and draws complex associations between these and wildfire. This book is not a primer on how wildfires are fought. It is a loving and thorough philosophical exploration of the meaning of fire, nature, and humanity.

Hot Damn!
Seasons of Fire by David J. Strohmaier is a superbly written, artistic, and thought-provoking novel on humankind's relationship to fire. Like the author, I too have "engaged" the fires of summer,which stirred deep, ontological questions about human evolution's debt to fire. The author expresses such ideas in a free-flowing narrative that bursts with imagery. Deep yet accesible (I will admit to using the dictionary at least once every 50 pages, but I admire an author who can skillfully use words that I should know, but don't).

To ape the vernacular of Hollywood producers, "it's like Edward Abbey meets Garrison Keillor!" David J. Strohmaier provides beatific explorations of philosophical questions with a smooth, down-home panache. I have never had the pleasure of attacking a fire with gunny sacks, but the author makes me wish I had:

"There is pleasure in completing little tasks--sweating your way up a hill to the flank of a fire under the sun and open sky of mid-July, then, in the company of several others, swatting out flames until either you smother all movement, or cool, moist night air tucks the fire in for the evening. This genuine satisfaction does not abdicate you from the responsibility of asking why you are doing what you are doing, and why it is meaningful. And of all the seasons of the year, summer, the summer of fire, is when these questions are cured."

Descriptions of a bygone Halloween when the author dressed as Satan himself, dancing around a fire, made me laugh out loud. A truly provocative and enjoyable book. I look forward to his next work.

The Seasons of Fire : Reflections on Fire in the West
Strohmaier captures the essense of what calls people from all walks of life to a world of flames and wild places.
As a veteran wildland firefighter for over 24 years,
it was a joy to read about the spirit that exist within every wildland firefighter. If you want to understand the
essentials of what motivates wildland firefighters, read this book. ... Read more

Product Description

Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction Honour Book, 2007

Silver Birch Express shortlist, 2008

Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice 2007 finalist

Canadian Science Writers' Association's Science in Society Journalism Award nominee, Youth Book category, 2007

It hasn't rained in the forest for many weeks. And in the sunny clearing, everything is dry and scorched. Then, late one afternoon, a hot wind begins to blow and storm clouds gather. But instead of rain, lightning fills the sky and strikes a tall tree beside the clearing. The lightning strike shoots down the tree and ignites the dry vegetation below. In no time, the forest is engulfed in flame. Soon there is nothing left but the charred ruins of the forest, devoid of life.

But the story is not over. Slowly and gradually, life returns to the forest - from the seeds that blow in on the wind and germinate - to the small creatures that have survived in their burrows below the ground. It will take many years; but eventually the forest will return, filled with life once more.

Customer Reviews (1)

This Book Will Create A Burning Interest in How Fires Happen!
Fire!The Renewal of a Forest bills itself as "an informational storybook" on the cover and I'd say that's just about the perfect description for this book.Aimed at kids from ages 4-8, the reader is taken on a brief journey from old forest growth (and what that entails); the cycle of life in the forest (trees and animals); what weather conditions have to be present for a fire to occur (dry & lightening); how the fire moves and spreads as well as what are some natural barriers to continued spread; and the cycle of re-growth and return of wildlife after the fire.Each page set contains a bit of text that explains fully the cycle from start to finish in simple (well written and easy to understand) language.Rather than having something different going on each page, the author gives a two page spread so the reader gets a full length panoramic spread of the forest with inset bubbles that showcase animals, conditions, and/or plants...kind of spotlighting specific parts of the forest and brining additional information to the reader to add to the text on the page.The illustrations are stunning and do a good job in evoking the feel of they type of forest (old growth, new growth, newly burned) in the text and there is even a two page spread at the end that illustrates the entire cyclical process which is very well done.At the end there is a short list of additional web resources for students and teachers to use in finding out more about forest fires (which my kiddies particularly liked).

Overall, this is an excellent start for young readers in understanding how and why forest fires (the natural variety) start, why they are necessary and even healthy for the forest and animals while down playing the threat to homes and people...there is the briefest mention of "most animals escaping" and of homes needing to be protected from forest fires or fires stared by people (only one mention in the entire book).The author stresses forest fires as a natural and necessary occurrence in a way that is very non-frightening to young readers.The artwork for the book is a perfect match to the text and was visually interesting from page to page with surprisingly little repetition.It was also nice that the inset bubbles echoed animals and plants in the larger panoramic double page view, this made for something extra the kids could look for and talk about while we read the book.I give it five stars, it's well done and an excellent book for readers ages 4-8, this would make a fine classroom book particularly in areas where forest fires are a yearly (or nearly yearly) occurrence.
... Read more

Product Description
Ongoing advances in arson detection tools and techniques increase the importance of scientific evidence in related court proceedings. In order to assemble an airtight case, investigators and forensic scientists need a resource that assists them in properly conducting the chemical analysis and interpretation of physical evidence found at scenes of suspected arson. Analysis and Interpretation of Fire Scene Evidence introduces the techniques that determine the presence of ignitable liquid residues (ILRs) at fire scenes. It bridges the disciplines of investigation and forensic chemistry, enabling effective communication during critical periods of evidence detection, collection, packaging, and transport.The initial chapters are written from an investigator's perspective, allowing forensic specialists to understand fire dynamics, ignition, heat transfer, and investigations. Later chapters include a comparison of the use of canines versus new detection techniques, and an examination of laboratory facilities, equipment, and procedures that are essential to organizing a new lab or upgrading an existing one. By detailing the methods used to identify potential evidence at the scene of suspected arson fires, this volume also benefits attorneys and judges in preparing for prosecution and defense of arson cases. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Tragically, a good book!
This "two volumes in one" book deals with extreme opposites on the tragedy scene in Wisconsin.

"Fire" refers to the Great Peshtigo Fire of Peshtigo, Wisconsin. You may or may not have heard of it.It occurred the same night as the Great Chicago Fire. Obviously, we nowknow which conflagration received more press. The fact is, more peopledied, more property was destroyed, and a larger area was burned in thePeshtigo Fire than in Chicago.

"Ice" refers to tragedies on theGreat Lakes around Wisconsin.

If you can get a copy of this book, I urgeyou to do so. It is well worth reading! ... Read more

Product Description
Thirteen-year-old Nikki Roberts tries to help two children trapped by a forest fire but finds her efforts blocked by poachers who want her to become one of the fire's victims. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Escape from Fire Mountain
My 8 year daughter old read this book in one hour - She enjoyed it but what a rip off!

the fire escape
I loved this book.It is about a girl named Nicki who goes out on her horse, Goblin, in the mountatins. There is a storm coming and she sees poachers.She goes home to report the poachers but the telephone line is dead. She tries the radio and she hears kids asking for help.She decides to help them.Where they are there is a fire but first she conoes some of the way through a river.Then she helps the children.Then she escapes fire mountain with them.

Great Book
My teacher is reading this book in school and I love it!!I strongly want you to read this book.It is the best book ever!!!

Theescape
Theres little girl named Nikki that convinced her mom and dad that she could stay home alone so her parents could go see her Uncle Joe in the hospital.Now theres also these to ohter kids take their grandpas canoe and they end up at Dead Mans Drop.Nikki Heres somebody on her dads CB radio.When she gets it and goes to respond she heres theirs a fire and no one responds.So she takes her horse Goblin to ride out there.She got so far then she had to ride in the canoe that the horse drag.When she got there the to kids looked like they where hurt.Nikki carried one of the kids.Theyraninto some poachers

the best bok
Escape from the fire mountain by Gary Paulsen is about 3 kids that ask there parents if they can go hiking. When they took the horse they got stuck in a fire. They got kidnapped by two guys in black they had guns and swords. I think that the theme is that you should never give up. Because they really never gave up escaping. One way they tried to escape was by running away from the place but then they got caught by the kidnappers. When they did escape with a four wheeler they ran out of gas. then they had to run the the oldest girls house. I really liked this book. I liked this book because Gary [the author] really gets me excited. The part that got me most excited was when they got kidnapped. I just wanted to keep reading because that part got my attention and it was exiting to read this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Simply the best
I have long been a fan of Stephen J Pyne who is, in my opinion, the best author on fire in the world.Some of his books do get a bit technical but he always realizes he is sailing over his readers' knowledge level and quickly brings it back down for the non-professional reader.
I have read many of his books but somehow missed this one. It is, in essence, a more personal volume than his other books because it relates his experience fighting fire.That closeness to the flames is an added bonus to his library of work.
If you have read Pyne, you know what I mean.
If you have not, and are at all interested in fire and its impacts, both positive and negative, on our country and society, this is an excellent way to meet the man who will tell you everything you want to know.

Firefighting in the olden days
This book describes a seasonal firefighters job in 1977.This was before the advent of much of the specialized equipment used today.He also capture the essencial conflict between the resource/ranger staffs and real live firefighters.Reading this book I can feel the B2 unit digging into my back from my green canvas backpack.

Probably the best book I've read on forest firefighting
This is a great book, written not from a journalistic point of view nor from an official point of view, but from that of somebody who was a fire boss for over a decade on the Grand Canyon's North Rim fire crew.Writtenas fiction, although it is based on actual events with only the nameschanged. Edward Abbey, who worked in a fire tower on the North Rim for acouple of seasons, makes a thinly-disguised cameo appearance here as"Abner". Effectively captures the work, the culture, and thehumor of forest firefighters in a way that no other book I've read has.Ifyou're at all interested in the subject I'd recommend picking this up. ... Read more