Akron Public Library

A journalist and forest-fire expert shares his experiences in some of the world's most dangerous and remote regions to explore the rising phenomenon of large-scale fires, the damage they cause, and how they are being battled by elite firefighters. "A brilliant exploration of the rising phenomenon of megafires--forest fires of alarming scale, intensity, and devastation--that explains the science of what is causing them and captures the danger and...

Provides information on smokejumpers, firefighters that parachute into wildfires.

Today, wildland fire is everybody's business, from the White House to the fireground. Wildfires have grown bigger, more intense, more destructive--and more expensive. Federal taxpayers, for example, footed most of the $16 million bill for fighting the 2006 Esperanza Fire in Southern California, which marked the first time that an entire five-man engine crew was killed by fire, as well as the first time that an arsonist was successfully prosecuted...

"Engaging images accompany information about smoke jumpers. The combination of high-interest subject matter and light text is intended for students in grades 3 through 7"--Provided by publisher.

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...

For nearly a decade, Palley has been on the frontline of fire. He has witnessed homeowners on the worst day of their lives. He's seen puddles of aluminum where cars were once parked. He's watched as 150-foot walls of flame cascaded down mountainsides and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. And he's captured, time and again, the tireless commitment of firefighters as they work to save lives and homes, in terrain where fire always seems to have the upper...

Based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a group of elite firefighters risk everything to protect a town from a historic wildfire.

Earth--it's a disaster zone! For thousands of years, Earth has been set alight by raging wildfires that rip across its surface, torching everything in their paths. But what causes these awesome forces of nature and where in the world are they most likely to occur? Discover the science behind raging wildfires, the world's worst-ever wildfire disasters, and the technology that scientists are using to help prevent devastating wildfires of the future....

"It was late evening when the wind over a brush-choked canyon in northern California unexpectedly shifted and roared downhill. The Rattlesnake Fire had been burning since midday on the Mendocino National Forest. The fresh, violent wind picked up embers from the fire and spun them down into the depths of the canyon, blowing into a thunderous torrent of fire. The sight mesmerized veteran firefighters. Long, fatal minutes passed before they remembered...

Discusses the very dangerous job of fighting forest wildfires and how smokejumpers are used.