Book dossier

The fire line

by Fernanda Santos

"Draws on hundreds of hours of interviews with family members, colleagues, historians and other insiders to trace the stories and heroic sacrifices of the elite Granite Mountain Hotshots who gave their lives fighting the catastrophic 2013 wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona,"--NoveList. When a bolt of lightning ignited a hilltop in the sleepy town of Yarnell, Arizona, in June 2013, setting off a blaze that would grow into one of the deadliest fires in American history, the twenty men who made up the Granite Mountain Hotshots sprang into action. An elite crew trained to combat the most challenging wildfires, the Granite Mountain Hotshots were a ragtag family, crisscrossing the American West and wherever else the fires took them. The Hotshots were loyal to one another and dedicated to the tough job they had. We see this band of brothers at work, at play and at home, until a fire that burned in their own backyards leads to a national tragedy. Impeccably researched, drawing upon more than a hundred hours of interviews with the firefighters' families, colleagues, state and federal officials, and fire historians and researchers, journalist Fernanda Santos has written a riveting narrative of an unthinkable disaster, a remarkable group of men, and the raging wildfires that threaten our country's treasured wild lands.--Adapted from dust jacket.