Ghosts of the Fireground: Echoes of the Great Peshtigo Fire and the Calling of a Wildland Firefighter

As a wild land fire fighter I look for books that will help me learn anything and everything that I can about fire behavior, supervisory roles, and how people react under stressful conditions. And when those lessons can be learned with an added touch of a gripping story, they are more easily absorbed and better remembered. Leschak is a beautiful writer and has some very interesting views on life and relates his own experiences... Read Full Review

I think that this book was wonderfully written, full of insight to the dangers of fighting fire and the passion and love that firefighters have for this dangerous profession. The spiritual points hit home and provide some explanations as to why any type of emergency responder will in a sense become "obsessed" with their job. It also provided me with quite a few notes that I will use when teaching younger firefighters. While... Read Full Review

This is the first book I read about wildland firefighting. An employee of mine found this book and gave it to me. I got my red card earlier this year and she thought I would like the book. She was right. Since then I have read Fire on the Mountain and Young Men and Fire. So far this one is my favorite. Leschak tries to make two books out of this one. Part of the book is about the Peshtigo Fire and part of the book is about... Read Full Review

Ghosts of the Fireground was a gift from a friend and not the kind of book I tend to pick for myself. As often is the case, however, we don't like green eggs and ham until we try them, Sam-I-am.Peter Leschak is a tremendous writer and this book defies easy classification. It certainly is an intriguing memoir; it reads like a good novel; and in parts is as inspirational as any self-help book I have read. I checked the back... Read Full Review

If you loved Norman Maclean's classic Young Men and Fire, you will most certainly enjoy Ghosts of the Fireground. Peter Leschak takes us right into the heart of what it means to be a firefighter. As one of the oldest active wildland firefighters and a remarkable and gifted writer, he captures the story of the Great Peshtigo Fire in absolutely spellbinding and breathtaking prose. We are brought face to face with the awesome,... Read Full Review