Fire on the Mountain

By: John N. Maclean

Narrated by: John N. Maclean

On the morning of July 3, 1994, the site of a forest fire on Storm King Mountain in Colorado was wrongly recorded by the district's Bureau of Land Management office as taking place in South Canyon, thereby mislabeling forever one of the greatest tragedies in the annals of firefighting. That seemingly small human error foreshadowed the numerous other minor errors that, three days later, would be compounded into the deaths of fourteen firefighters, four of them women. In this dramatic reconstruction of the disaster and its aftermath, John N. Maclean tells the heroic and cautionary story of people who were experts in their field but became the victims of nature at its most unforgiving.

No one is better equipped to tell this story than the author, whose father, Norman Maclean, wrote the classic account of Mann Gulch, Young Men and Fire, in whose publication the younger Maclean assisted after his father's death. Fire on the Mountain took almost five years to complete and involved nearly fifty thousand miles of auto travel. The audiobook brings to light many new facts about the fire through dozens of freedom of Information Act requests and countless interviews with survivors and members of the official investigating team, one of whose members refused to sign the final report after a long and bitter debate about where the blame for what happened should be placed.

Fire on the Mountain is, however, more than mere investigative journalism. While offering action and adventure storytelling at its best, it also provides deeply moving insights into the lives and dreams of a special breed of people who put their own well-being on the line as part of their daily jobs.

Great book!

Provides a great narrative for the tragedy at Storm King. Would recommend to all firefighters!

Worthy listen for everyone

I feel no need to describe the book - its description covers it. It's suitable for anyone over the age of 12 or so. (A mature 12; Death and dead bodies are, obviously, discussed, but not in a gruesome or highly-detailed way.) It can be read by anyone - a background in firefighting or wildfires isn't necessary, as there aren't a bunch of acronyms or such used, and wildfire-specific tools and jobs are explained.

My sole dislike of this book is that it's abridged. But I've since gotten the unabridged version, and have to admit it's a well-done abridgement. Nothing important to the average reader was cut - mostly just administrative minutiae, some history, and the like. That said, those with wildfire background would do better to get the unabridged version, as some of what's cut is important to lessons learned re: fighting fires and how disasters like this are studied.

Also, while most audiobook fans know "read by the author" is usually a sign to "run away!" or at least get the book in paper, that is *not* the case here. Mr. McLean has a smooth, well-timbred, voice suited for reading aloud. He can be a tad monotone, but this isn't a book that calls for emoting so that works. It's a book to make you think and reflect and learn. It's what introduced me to wildfires and wildfire disasters. Go read it - you won't regret it!

Dry voice but a great book

Voice is hard at first but his convictions for the fire service shows in tone. This is not heart warming as a book

U.S. F.S. Learned NOTHING from The Mann Gulch Fire

Where does Fire on the Mountain rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

TOP 5%!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Fire on the Mountain?

This is the heartbreaking TRUE story of how the USFS will not/cannot learn from past mistakes it has already made and seemingly is committed to amking AGAIN & AGAIN! After all it is only the Smoke Jumpers and the HOT SHOTS who die! If you read Norman MacLeans'd :Young Men and Fire: and John MacLean's "Fire on the Mountain" I don't know how you could ever allow your children/friends/self to work a wild-land fire for the Federal Government. The TOP MANAGEMENT TEAM of the Federal Agencies involved have BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS and seem indifferent to fixing ANY or even ONE of their many failures of BOTH LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT. It would be Catch 22 funny, if not for all the DEAD BODIES!!!!

Which character – as performed by John N. MacLean – was your favorite?

Mr. MacLeans's clinical and dispassionate reading of his own tight, clean prose gives a tragic and lyrical sense of the CLASSICS to this story-rasing the deaths opf these wonderful young people to level of a GREEK TRADEGY. His voice gives you a deep sense of the futility of attempting to change these failed federal agencies and their even worse policies.

If you could give Fire on the Mountain a new subtitle, what would it be?

Federal Fire Policy Failures from Mann Gulch to Storm King.

Any additional comments?

This is a MUST READ for NOT just every family member of the SMOKE JUMPERS and HOT SHOTS->but for all citizens of the true AMERICAN WEST who are constantly tortured by their distant and dereanged federal government-which neither understands nor care about the folks who populate "fly-over" country. These two EPIC FAILS speak to federal government that id both unwilling and incapable of changing to PROTECT the citizens of the remaining American West. Every current citizen of Montana, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and Alaska could read this book and say: "I know of 20 other massive mistakes the feds made as reagrds this or that policy....

This book is just one more proff that the DEPT of AGRICULTURE and the DEPT of Interior should be abolished!

Narration perfect

I thought the narration perfect for this subject. I found it easy to listen to and follow details.
An informative and sorrowful read.