Oregon Wildland Firefighting: A History

by Sean Davis

Over the past century, some of the world's largest wildland fires have occurred in Oregon. Accidentally set by a disgruntled cook on an English ship, the Great Fire of 1845 displaced multiple tribes and boiled wildlife alive in the Columbia River. The Tillamook Burn started up every 6 years from 1933 to 1951 and incited one of the largest reseeding efforts in the world with 72 million seedlings planted. The Long Draw Fire of 2012, the state's largest in more than 150 years, started as a small spark and raged into an ocean of flames thousands of acres wide in a matter of hours. Veteran wildland firefighter Sean Davis shares harrowing firsthand accounts that illustrate what it takes to battle an inferno.

Genres: Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

Published February 11, 2019

Reviews

[Lea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was excited to read about Oregon wildfire history, I started my wildfire career there, and wanted to learn more. I anticipated a well written book, the author teaches college writing, unfortunately the autocorrect errors start on the first page and set the tone for the rest of, what seems to be, an unedited book. The author has experience as a wildland firefighter, with the military and on a contract engine. Unfortunately, this book doesn’t appear to have been fact checked and is riddled with incorrect information. The shining star of the book are the photos from the 1930s, depicting fire camps throughout Oregon. The history of Oregon wildfires is a small 17% of the book, and includes mostly recent fires and the author’s opinions. I had high hopes for this book but unfortunately it did not deliver. I wouldn’t recommend this book unless you’re looking specifically for photos of 1930s fire camps.

[Rita · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is not a history, but a grab bag of facts and opinions. It is poorly written with many errors throughout although the photos are good. It needs heavy proofreading and major editorial help.