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Title details for Under a Flaming Sky by Daniel James Brown - Wait list

Under a Flaming Sky

The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894

by Daniel James Brown
Mark Bramhall
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On September 1, 1894 two forest fires converged on the town of Hinckley, Minnesota, trapping over 2,000 people. Daniel J. Brown recounts the events surrounding the fire in the first and only book on to chronicle the dramatic story that unfolded. Whereas Oregon's famous "Biscuit" fire in 2002 burned 350,000 acres in one week, the Hinckley fire did the same damage in five hours. The fire created its own weather, including hurricane-strength winds, bubbles of plasma-like glowing gas, and 200-foot-tall flames. In some instances, "fire whirls," or tornadoes of fire, danced out from the main body of the fire to knock down buildings and carry flaming debris into the sky. Temperatures reached 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit—the melting point of steel.
As the fire surrounded the town, two railroads became the only means of escape. Two trains ran the gauntlet of fire. One train caught on fire from one end to the other. The heroic young African-American porter ran up and down the length of the train, reassuring the passengers even as the flames tore at their clothes. On the other train, the engineer refused to back his locomotive out of town until the last possible minute of escape. In all, more than 400 people died, leading to a revolution in forestry management practices and federal agencies that monitor and fight wildfires today.
Author Daniel Brown has woven together numerous survivors' stories, historical sources, and interviews with forest fire experts in a gripping narrative that tells the fascinating story of one of North America's most devastating fires and how it changed the nation.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 10, 2016

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781524723583
      • File size: 240116 KB
      • Duration: 08:20:14

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Daniel James Brown's grandfather was witness to the Hinckley, Minnesota, firestorm of September 1, 1894. His grandfather's story is personal to the author, but he treats all the stories of life and death that day with equal care. Narrator Mark Bramhall starts with a gentle account of everyday life in the town, even as hints of what's to come creep into his voice. The reportage of the inferno is woven from the stories of individuals, such as passengers leaving a flaming train and a father drenching his kids in life-saving water. Quietly but unnervingly interspersed is the author's reportage on the various types of fire deaths and psychological aspects of being caught in a fire. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 13, 2006
      On September 1, 1894, Hinckley, Minn.—a thriving town with a population of more than 1,200, two railroads, a successful lumber mill and five hotels—was ravaged by a firestorm that grew out of a catastrophic convergence of two ordinary fires, high winds, hot weather and white pine forest. Brown, a textbook writer, gives a human face to natural calamity as he draws on firsthand survivor stories, such as those of his grandfather, who at nine was rescued from the disaster that killed his father, a Norwegian immigrant. A wide range of characters evoke the reader's pity and respect in these well-researched and highly readable pages. A black porter selflessly saves white passengers on a train engulfed in flames; a quick-thinking clergyman plunges into a river with a stranger's baby in his arms; and a survivor is haunted by the death screams of 127 of his neighbors in a swamp. With its pine forests obliterated in the firestorm that claimed more than 436 lives, Hinckley became a specter of its former self. Illustrated with period pictures, this deft slice of regional history will attract disaster and weather buffs as well as fans of Norman Maclean's standout Young Men and Fire
      .

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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