When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World
by Jordan Thomas
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FINALIST FOR THE 2025 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
"Exceptional. . . . When It All Burns is one of those books that immerses the reader in the nuances of a world most of us know only through the lens of tragedy and destruction. Thomas' visceral, crystalline prose only adds fuel to the fire." --Los Angeles Times
A hotshot firefighter's gripping firsthand account of a record-setting fire season
Eighteen of California's largest wildfires on record have burned in the past two decades. Scientists recently invented the term "megafire" to describe wildfires that behave in ways that would have been nearly impossible just a generation ago, burning through winter, exploding in the night, and devastating landscapes historically impervious to incendiary destruction.
In When It All Burns, wildland firefighter and anthropologist Jordan Thomas recounts a single, brutal six-month fire season with the Los Padres Hotshots--the special forces of America's firefighters. Being a hotshot is among the most difficult jobs on earth. Thomas viscerally renders his crew's attempts to battle flames that are often too destructive to contain. He uncovers the hidden cultural history of megafires, revealing how humanity's symbiotic relationship with wildfire became a war--and what can be done to change it back.
Thomas weaves ecology and the history of Indigenous peoples' oppression, federal forestry, and the growth of the fire industrial complex into a riveting narrative about a new phase in the climate crisis. It's an immersive story of community in the most perilous of circumstances, told with humor, humility, and affection.
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9780593544822
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Authors
- Jordan Thomas
- Publisher
- Riverhead Books
- Published Date
- May 27, 2025
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 368
- Physical Info
- 1.37 in H x 9.26 in L x 6.36 in W (1.11 lb)
If you're an Old Coot with many years on a Hotshot Crew, you're likely to see this book as a 'New Age' viewpoint.
A book written by an outsider about a grueling profession whose workers are deeply marginalized. The writer misrepresents his backgrounds and reasons for joining a hotshot crew and his research is haphazard to say the least. Because so few people know the intricacies of wildland firefighting and hotshots in particular, it's easy to pull the wool over their eyes. He also claims to be from California, but he's not. This is a book written in a colonial mode that pretends to be critiquing colonialism, a book from a macho perspective that pretends to be critiquing a macho culture. He's obsessed with his chainsaw and universalizes his one single year as a hotshot, as if all hotshot crews operate in the same way. Doesn't even seem to know the difference between a squad and a mod, and doesn't know the work well enough to translate it properly for an audience.There were two other books released this summer by former hotshots, both of them with more experience. I've only read one, but it was way more honest than this book.
The author puts you right on the line with the crews fighting the California mega fires. Even better he explains why the fires are so disastrous and how the Indigenous people used fire to benefit themselves, the wildlife and the forests. Excellent book!
Lots of information relevant to living in California today.
A fascinating look at the fire history of the American West, especially California as told through the words of an anthropologist who spent a year with the Los Padres Hot Shots. Equal parts the story of the people Thomas was on the lines with and how we got to the place of these catastrophic California fires. Thomas took into account some of the Trump 1.0 rhetoric, but this was before the catastrophic fires in the Grand Canyon and Pacific Palisades in 2025 and the unhelpful national response to this. Also an interesting look at the employment status of these Hot Shots and the challenges they face in the off season or if injured on the job. Great read
