Ghosts of the Fireground : Echoes of the Great Peshtigo Fire and the Calling of a Wildland Firefighter

Rating:
Summary: Complete Drivel
Review: The author was more impressed with his being a team leader that doing justs to the historic Peshtigo fire. The mundane radio calls and flash backs didn"t help his effort.

Rating:
Summary: 2 books for the price of 1
Review: This is the first book I read about wildland firefighting. An employee of mine found this book and gave it to me. I got my red card earlier this year and she thought I would like the book. She was right. Since then I have read Fire on the Mountain and Young Men and Fire. So far this one is my favorite.

Leschak tries to make two books out of this one. Part of the book is about the Peshtigo Fire and part of the book is about his exciting experiences in wildland firefighting. It goes chapter by chapter switching from being about the first topic and then back to the other. I read this a couple of months after my red card training and it was a good supliment to what I had just learned. Leschak does a good job of teaching about wildland firefighting. I wasn't too interested in the historical perspective of the Peshtigo Fire, and it's a good thing because there is less emphasis on this in the book.

His stories are also exciting. I did not know what Helitack was before this book. Now that I know about it, that would be my dream job. Getting paid to ride around in a helicopter, hike in the woods, fight fire, cut down trees, build line. Now I have a goal to shoot for. Thanks.