Fernanda Santos

My overall feeling once I finished this book is what a waste, as Ms. Santos provides a chronicle of a unit of firefighters, how they lived, and how they died. Call this is group portrait of a group of average men who aspired to live superior lives.

The big gap is that the perspective of the controlling political authorities, from the city government of Yarnell (AZ), to the state government of Arizona is not captured in this work. Some blame for the death of these men has to accrue to the fire supervisors, who lost control of a rapidly developing situation, but that there not sufficient command and control resources falls squarely on a state government that was trying to cheap out on public security. Add to that the perversity of residential building in areas that are guaranteed to be burned over, and expectations that said private property will be defended, and the foundations of disaster are established.

The one thing that can't be explained is why the Granite Mountain men chose to leave a situation of relative safety and to put themselves in a death trap. One can only have suspicions, but these were tired men who were trying to do too much, were trying to defend their own home town from the fire, and who had no command backup to override a bad decision. Still, firefighting will always be a dangerous business, and while you have to go out if it's your duty, nothing says you have to come back.… (mais)

I read this in preparation for the upcoming film and I thought it was a tight, well-written account of events. I wasn't there so I can judge accuracy, but I grew up in an area where wildfires were terribly common and I think the author captured well what it's like to live in an area like that. I think this book also highlights how different rural life is: the different risks, the different culture, the different response given by other people and the nation as whole. I'd definitely recommend this for folks who are interested in the movie or find firefighting interesting in general. And I really hope this sparks some conversation around salary/benefits/municipal budgets and positive changes we can make there.… (mais)