Year of the Fires: The Story of the Great Fires of 1910

In the summer of 1910, wildfires in the Northern Rockies spread across millions of acres; the soot darkened the skies of New England and even drifted as far as the ice of Greenland. Seventy-eight firefighters died fighting the "Big Blowup" along the Montana-Idaho border. Nationally recognized fire historian Stephen J. Pyne presents Year of the Fires: The Story of the Great Fires of 1910, which tells of this tremendous catastrophe and how it forever changed America's policies for responding to forest fires. Accessible to scholars and lay readers alike, Year of the Fires is a welcome addition to American history shelves and highly recommended - especially considering that the lessons of the past remain just as relevant in "fire-prone" parts of the nation today.

The story of the great fires of 1910 that raged along the northern tier of the country from Washington to the Great Lakes, but especially the Big Blowup that occurred along the Montana-Idaho border that claimed over 70 firefighters in two days in late August. Heroes, cowards, and fools all appeared during those two days before the fierce winds that made containment difficult abated. Ed Pulaski saved a large crew from destruction by his actions. But Baudette and Spooner, both in Minnesota, were destroyed in only 20 minutes. The country didn't really have a forest fire plan, in most cases just allowing fires to burn themselves out. But these fires, which destroyed so much property, forced officials to make big changes, among them the creation of the Forest Service. A debate raged over whether fires should be fought head-on or by employing light burning to prevent devastating fires from erupting. (Pyne is weakest in dealing with these debates and doesn't make the issues or outcome clear.) In some ways the debate still continues, especially now that so many homes and communities have been built on forest lands. A pretty interesting book, though Pyne's writing style is not very compelling.

Although some of the other reviewers disagree, Pyne has done a fantastic job of pulling together many diverse strands of primary materials to make a compelling narrative. Not only does Pyne tell the stories of individual firefighters on the line, but he interweaves larger political and environmental issues as well. Really, this is a model work as far as coordinating the "big picture" with the details. Readers of this work will learn about bureaucratic infighting in the early 1900's, competing forestry theories, the physics of how fires actually work, as well as slices of social history here and there. Pyne's greatest weakness in this book is that he tends to be too wordy and a bit too flamboyant with imagery. If you can overlook that and can see the big picture Pyne is painting, the book will draw you in.

In 1910, the newly formed Forest Service faced its greatest threat, a series of large fires burning in Idaho's panhandle. Mobilizing all its resources, and even calling on the Army for help, the Service began to fight the fires. However, things went from bad to very much worse when a sudden wind-storm (producing no rain) fanned the fires into a firestorm! An unknown number of people died, and many acres of private and national forest burned. In this story, there are heroes and cowards, self-promoters and self-sacrificers. Professor Pyne does an excellent job of explaining first the history of the Forest Service and forest-fire fighting, and then covers the actual events of the firestorm in a manner that leaves you on the edge of your seat. Finally, the aftereffects are covered in an in-depth manner. This book is quite interesting, bringing the story of that tragic year right into my life. I really enjoyed reading this book, and think that you will, too.