The Thirtymile Fire: A Chronicle of Bravery and Betrayal | 
 enlarge | Author: John N. Maclean
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 213468
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 1
ISBN: 0805083308
Dewey Decimal Number: 979
EAN: 9780805083309
ASIN: 0805083308
Publication Date: May 27, 2008
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Product Description
“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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Been there July 3, 2008
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
 Excellent May 21, 2008
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.
The Thirtymile Fire by John N. Maclean January 1, 2008
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.
Well worth your time and $$ December 31, 2007
John Maclean is an excellent writer and it shows once again in this book. It's obvious he's done his research on the Thirtymile Fire. As a wildland FF who studies fatal fires and near miss incidents, I devoured the information on this fire and the lives lost from the day it happened. I waited several years to get more than just news articles and investigation reports. Thankfully John Maclean stepped up to the plate. This read has been fascinating and educational. Most importantly, this is not just a book about a fire or mistakes made at a fire. This book is about four "kids" who lost their lives while living out their dream.
Anatomy of a disaster October 31, 2007
I am a helicopter pilot who was sitting on the ramp at the smoke jumper base in Winthrop the day this tragedy happened. This story is very real to me. I personally saw how the forest service screwed up, at least from an aviation (or lack thereof) standpoint. Maclean could have been more harsh on the management of that fire, in my opinion. Otherwise a good story with enough technical stuff to appeal to firefighters, and drama to appeal to the general public.
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