On the Fireline: Living and Dying with Wildland Firefighters (Fieldwork Encounters and Discoveries) PDF
Preview On the Fireline: Living and Dying with Wildland Firefighters (Fieldwork Encounters and Discoveries)
ON THE FIRELINE FIELDWORK ENCOUNTERS AND DISCOVERIES A Series Edited by Robert Emerson and Jack Katz O N T H E Fireline Living and Dying with Wildland Firefighters MATTHEW DESMOND THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS Chicago and London Matthew Desmond is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2007 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2007 Printed in the United States of America 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN-13: 978-0-226-14408-5 (cloth) ISBN-10: 0-226-14408-9 (cloth) Portions of this book were previously published in Ethnography 7(4): 387–421, and are reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Desmond, Matthew. On the fi reline : living and dying with wildland fi refi ghters / Matthew Desmond. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-226-14408-5 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-226-14408-9 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Wildfi re fi ghters—West (U.S.)— Biography. 2. Wildfi res—Prevention and control. 3. Hazardous occupations. 4. Risk-taking (Psychology) I. Title. SD421.24 .D47 2007 363.37092'273—dc22 2007010878 o The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. To my parents, NICK AND SHAVON, for everything “It wasn’t unusual to get called out at six o’clock, head back, drive all night to an incident, get there, get breakfast, get briefed, and go out on the line.” REX THURMAN Contents Introduction 1 PART ONE HISTORY AND PLACE 1. Country Masculinity 18 2. The Sanctuary of the Forest 54 PART TWO TRAINING AND DISCIPLINE 3. A Joke between Brothers 90 4. Real Firefi ghters Drive Green Engines 114 5. Learning and Burning 142 6. Taking the “Wild” Out of Wildfi re 174 PART THREE FIRE AND DEATH 7. The Beaver Creek Fire 200 8. The Incompetent Dead 224 Conclusion 265 Appendix: Between Native and Alien 283 Glossary 309 Notes 313 Acknowledgments 355 Index 359 i x
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