This is a terrific book, very well written, and a riveting and frightening real-life story. A straight-through read.

posted Sep 1, 2006 at 4:09PM

It had been unusually hot and dry the Summer of 1894 with small fires breaking out regularly. Then on September 1, 1894 two forest fires converged, creating a "firestorm", on the town of Hinckly, MN. trapping over 2,000 people. Over 400 people parished in the raging fire. Many of these thought that the dark skies and strong winds they saw and heard were bringing severe storms; possibly a tornado so they took cover in basements and storm cellars where they suffocated. Brown brings a human voice to this disaster through his use of first hand accounts of eyewitnesses. This is an important part of Minnesota History I didn’t learn about growing up in suburban Minneapollis.

posted Sep 21, 2006 at 1:37PM

im doing a report about the fire. would this book be good for research?

posted Apr 7, 2010 at 5:56PM

Plymouth Citywide Read 2012.

posted Mar 14, 2012 at 3:14PM

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