Mudslingers: A True Story of Aerial Firefighting

by Tim Sheehy

The unique history of aerial firefighting as seen through the eyes of a pilot, former Navy SEAL, and current owner of one of the most successful aerial firefighting companies in the world.

Blending historical context and first-person narrative, Mudslingers tells the dramatic and colorful story of aerial firefighting in America, as seen through the eyes of a decorated former Navy SEAL, US Naval Academy graduate, firefighting pilot, and businessman who founded Montana-based Bridger Aerospace, one of the most successful aerial firefighting teams in the world. Part narrative nonfiction, part memoir, Mudslingers is a riveting account of one person’s journey from the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq to the front lines of a different but no less important battle on the home front—the war against the escalating threat of wildfire.

From the early days of the B-17 to the modern fleets of the twenty-first century, Tim Sheehy will take you on a ride through the history of aerial firefighting—the most hazardous and demanding aviation mission in the world. Mudslingers is a rollicking read, an enlightening journey, and a call to action for anyone who believes wildfires are not only one of the greatest threats facing modern civilization but a threat that has long been underestimated, misunderstood, and poorly addressed, despite repeated examples of bravery and innovation by those who choose to do battle with the flames.

Indeed, save for a few historic military engagements in the twentieth century, there is not a sustained aviation mission anywhere that comes close to encompassing the danger, precision, and unforgiving nature of aerial firefighting.

In telling this story, Sheehy takes readers into the cockpit and into the lives of his fellow pilots—past and present—as they struggle with the seemingly never-ending threat of wildfires. One hundred percent of author proceeds from this book are donated to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation and the United Aerial Firefighters Association.

352 pages, Paperback

Published August 6, 2024

Reviews

[Cecilia · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Tim Chavez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story of starting a business in a tough industry, but I would have liked more fire fighting stories and less about his perceived failure of the US in Afghanistan.

[Chad Manske · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Sheehy’s “Mudslingers: A True Story of Aerial Firefighting” is the rare aviation book that smells of avgas and scorched pine needles on every page. It’s part high‑octane ops report, part American origin myth, and part mid‑air group therapy session for people who think flying low and slow over a burning ridgeline is a reasonable life choice. Sheehy builds his story on a clever airframe: a braided narrative that splices his own trajectory—from Annapolis to SEAL teams in Iraq and Afghanistan to the cockpit of a CL‑415 scooper—into the larger history of aerial firefighting from lumbering B‑17s to today’s purpose‑built fleets. The result is an unexpectedly propulsive tour through a niche mission set that, as he reminds you more than once, may be the most unforgiving sustained flying outside twentieth‑century combat. You can practically feel the yoke shudder as he drags a fully loaded water bomber through smoke columns and canyon turbulence, counting seconds to impact while the fire chews toward a subdivision just off the wingtip. The book is at its best when Sheehy steps aside and lets the community talk: the old hands who cut their teeth in converted warbirds, the engineers trying to wring more performance from aging airframes, and the younger pilots who grew up watching slurry bombers on YouTube and now fly the real thing into walls of heat they can’t quite see. That mosaic, stitched together with near‑misses, dark humor, and the ever‑present calculus of risk, gives “Mudslingers” a rough‑edged authenticity that polishes most “leadership” memoirs right off the shelf. There are blemishes—some critics have flagged borrowed prose and sourcing sloppiness—but the larger effect is hard to deny. As a narrative of how private operators, military veterans, and Western communities are improvising their way through an era of megafires, “Mudslingers” is both a bracing sit‑rep and a recruiting poster for a mission few Americans knew existed. The fact that all author proceeds go to firefighter charities is merely the chaser after a book that already reads like a toast to the pilots who keep diving back into the smoke.

[Brion · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book on the history of aerial wildland firefighting. The author has been in the industry for 10 years now and has a decent grasp of trying to sort through the federal bureaucracy related to contracts and deployments onto large project fires. I was surprised that he did not have a better idea of how the Federal government works after 16 years in the Navy and 10 as a contractor. The Agencies do not pass the laws related to federal contracting - Congress does. While I know that the USFS and other land management agencies are not well led these days - placing blame on them for things that stem from Congressional inaction and ineffectiveness is just misleading. It made me doubt the veracity of other sections of the book. Finally - in the closing chapters he moves to a supposedly "non-partisan" look at the tragedy related to our abandonment of Afghanistan and our allies there during the final withdrawal of troops and other US personnel in 2021. Completely glossing over the fact that the Trump and his administration laid the ground work for this horrific ending when it brokered a deal with the Taliban (without the input of senior military leaders from the US an Afghanistan). This ill considered agreement left Trumps successors holding the bag. Biden and the State department did a terrible job managing a completely screwed up mess that was initiated by, and whose ultimate path was laid by Trump and his band of idiots. I am thankful for the authors mentioning of his efforts and those of other former military members in circumventing the fiasco in helping some of our allies to escape the terror reign of Trumps buddies - the Taliban.

[Ricardo Fernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the detailed history of aerial firefighting. Tim Sheehy also writes about his military service and the challenges of starting his business. The Afghanistan withdraw in 2021 was also covered.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very illuminating narrative of the modern state of aerial firefighting. Also a great story of how a single company is changing the way we approach the problem.