Under a Flaming Sky:
The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894. By:
Daniel James Brown. The Lyons Press, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-1-59228-863-2. Pp. 256.
$22.95
Under a Flaming Sky is about a horrific
firestorm that occurred on September 1, 1894 in the small town of Hinckley,
Minnesota trapping nearly two thousand people.
Daniel Brown knew the stories of the Hinckley firestorm because his
great-grandfather had died in the fire while his grandfather and
great-grandmother escaped. This book
outlines the social, economic, and environmental causes of the disaster and
also tells an assortment of survivor stories.
Brown explains the details of two firestorms converging together on the
little town of Hinckley, Minnesota and the devastating impact it had on the
people of the town. With all the
unreasonably dry weather and wildfires this year, I thought Under a Flaming Sky would be an
interesting book to read and relate to since it occurred so close to home.
Under a Flaming Sky is well
written with daily accounts and fine detail that makes the reader feel like they
are experiencing it first-hand. Brown
explains the Peshtigo fire in the autumn of 1871 allowing you to compare the
events to come. He describes peoples’
personal struggles that day with every gruesome detail. Just when you think you need to put the book
down to take a break, he eases the drama to explain forestry, logging history,
and the differences between fire control then and now. Following the prologue, Brown describes the
events of the Hinckley fire in detail from his own research and the stories he
has heard from survivors.
The
book starts out describing conditions in other states that summer with
unusually hot and dry weather and occasional fires breaking out. So many small fires had occurred around
Hinckley, that no one thought anything out of the ordinary because the fires
never seemed to get large enough or out of control. It is hard for us to relate to the people of
Hinckley because we have access to satellite imagery, Doppler radar, and
televised weather forecasts, while people in the nineteenth century just gazed
skyward and tried to judge what kind of weather was in store. Weather science in the 1890s was not always
accurate and they found it very hard to predict unexpected storms especially
wildfires. He goes on to explain the day
the firestorm occurred on September 1, 1894, introducing people in the town of
Hinckley doing their daily routines unaware of what was about to come later
that day. Hinckley was a big logging
town made possible by a tree called Pinus
strobus or white pine. White pine
was ideal for making long masts on English sailing ships due to its lightweight
but strong wood. With the demand of wood from Europe, it was
not so surprising that Hinckley flourished into a logging town. In the midst of deforestation, persistent dry
conditions, dry debris, and needle litter all over making it ideal for fires to
spread quickly that day.
Brown’s
introduction was so fast-paced that it was hard to keep up with all the people
he introduced and how they related to the story because he would jump back and
forth between different stories and continued to do that throughout the whole
book. In chapter two, he describes how
the fires continue to increase in strength as the strong winds pick up. It went from small spot fires to jumping from
lower branches and clawing their way up to the tops of trees. Chapter four begins to explain the different
classifications of wild land fires; ground fires, surface fires, and crown
fires the latter of the 3 being the worst.
Brown does a good job of explaining the scientific detail of how fires
are formed and what ignites them to a public audience. Surprisingly enough, Hinckley came in second
among all the fire departments west of Chicago at that time and was confident
in their equipment and approach in extinguishing fires. The firestorm just started to reach the town
around 2:00 P.M. The volunteer firefighters
worked on extinguishing the fire, while the citizens watched convinced that the
fire could not get past the firebreaks and railroad tracks into the heart of
town. Not long after though, the water
pressure gave out from their hose and all the people of Hinckley could do was
run and save themselves. In less than a
few hours, the fire ripped through and destroyed Hinckley. All the citizens could do was run for their
lives, hide in lakes or ponds, or try to make it to the next train coming
through to save them. Although even the
trains had trouble escaping the storm where whole trains were engulfed in
flames. Not only did trains need to
worry about spot fires, but bridges were burned down and the tracks were
melting and becoming disfigured due to the 1600 degree heat.
One of
the most gruesome, but interesting chapters is chapter eight in which it
explains how being badly burned is about the worst thing that could happen to a
body. Fully conscious victims, if they are surrounded by both flames and
adequate oxygen, may remain alert until the flames have reached them and begun
to consume their flesh, basically being burned alive. No other type of injury causes such
long-lasting physiological mayhem, pain, disfigurement, and uncertainty of the
outcome. If people were lucky enough to
survive the fire, they now had to endure the pain of burn shock, the body
beginning to basically cannibalize itself where the body burns calories at a
furious rate because the body needs enormous amounts of fuel and oxygen. This leads to the body being unable to fight
off infections and microbial life begins to attack the burned victim. It was just unbelievable to read what these
burned victims had to endure not only with pain but with psychological affects
after the disaster.
The
Hinckley fire consumed more than 300,000 acres including 5 smaller communities,
namely Mission Creek, Sandstone, Miller, Partridge and Pokegama and also took
more than 400 lives. Once the fire had
subsided, people that had heard of the fire through telegraphs, made their way
towards Hinckley hoping to find survivors to help. Hundreds of people are dead, many bodies are
unidentifiable because they are basically ash, families are devastated of the
loss of their family members and friends, entire towns are destroyed,
livelihoods and possessions are lost. Assistance
is offered, but overall the timber industry was not regulated well, medicine
that was available could not offer effective treatment, and they did not have
counseling for post-traumatic events. People that survived basically just had
to start over. In the concluding chapter
Brown explores the modern day town of Hinckley, Minnesota visiting memorial
spots and the Hinckley Fire Museum.
History continues to repeat itself no matter how technologically
advanced we become. There will always be
new natural disasters for people to endure.
Overall,
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical firestorm stories. I could not put this book down especially
while reading Brown’s detailed descriptions of the events which were well
written and extremely interesting. Although
I did not care much for the personal stories throughout the book, the details
of how the raging fire surrounded the town and consumed everything in its path
made up for it. I was not very
knowledgeable of wildfires and did not realize how destructive and scary they
could be until I read this book. It gives
you such insight into the destruction of this fire and the emotional and
traumatic stories people had gone through.
Although it was overall a sad book to read, I now realize the true
danger wildfires can have.
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