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Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894
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On September 1, 1894 two forest fires converged on the town of Hinckley, Minnesota, trapping over 2,000 people. Daniel J. Brown recounts the events surrounding the fire in the first and only book on to chronicle the dramatic story that unfolded. Whereas Oregon's famous "Biscuit" fire in 2002 burned 350,000 acres in one week, the Hinckley fire did the same damage in five ho
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Paperback, 288 pages
Published
February 1st 2016
by Lyons Press
(first published 2006)
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Community Reviews
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Start your review of Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894
Oct 24, 2008
Will Byrnes
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
nonfiction,
american-history
This book tells the tale of a devastating conflagration that wiped out the town of Hinckley in the year 1894. The relevance to today as much of our country goes up in smoke cannot be overstated.
Daniel James Brown - image from Washington University Libraries
There is much information here that was news to me, details about prairie fires. Much of the book is taken up with a novelistic recreation of the actions of a host of real people, some of whom survived the event, most of whom did not. I found ...more
Daniel James Brown - image from Washington University Libraries
There is much information here that was news to me, details about prairie fires. Much of the book is taken up with a novelistic recreation of the actions of a host of real people, some of whom survived the event, most of whom did not. I found ...more
Apr 26, 2010
Matt
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
natural-disasters,
fire
If I ever have kids - and ain't that a notion! - I will never let them play video games or watch violent movies or do any of the other things I was so happy to do as a child. That's because I am acutely aware of how a young mind can be indelibly molded by the experiences of childhood. My current (and undiminished) obsessions with the Titanic, Custer's Last Stand, and the Alamo, all flow from my early introduction to these harrowing stories of men and women in the last moments of their life, enac
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On September 1, 1894, a combination of dried tree branches, scorching temperatures, a Canadian high front and a complacent citizenry combined to create the perfect forest fire that leveled Hinckley, Minnesota, a small lumbering town halfway between St. Paul and Duluth. The town lost nearly half its population, some of whom suffocated, many of whom burned to death. This tragic story and its aftermath is told readably and well in UNDER A FLAMING SKY (2006).
Author Daniel James Brown, who would go ...more
Author Daniel James Brown, who would go ...more
All of my life I've heard about The Great Hinckley Fire and have seen multiple pictures of the monument but I never knew much about what happened other than my great-great grandparents were able to escape with my great grandfather and his siblings. I've always wanted to know more but never really knew where to look since I'm in Ohio and have never been to Minnesota. In High School we had to write a play or novel based on a historic event and I wrote mine based on the fire and actually almost fai
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What.a.book.
I just realized the other night that I’ve been back in my home state of Nebraska for a full year after a warm five year respite in the South. That means, since its now November, this is going to be my first full winter back. It started slow last year, which suited me fine, but it culminated in one 8 inch snow, and then a final 2 inch snow in the beginning of May. Now, for the first time in years, I’m going to sit through the whole thing. Already the temperatures swing back and forth, ...more
I just realized the other night that I’ve been back in my home state of Nebraska for a full year after a warm five year respite in the South. That means, since its now November, this is going to be my first full winter back. It started slow last year, which suited me fine, but it culminated in one 8 inch snow, and then a final 2 inch snow in the beginning of May. Now, for the first time in years, I’m going to sit through the whole thing. Already the temperatures swing back and forth, ...more
I loved this book! My Dad recommended it to me along with my Sister. Unbelievable. It was a book I thought about and keep thinking about. Sad when it was over.
Much like the story of the blizzard of 1888, it details how the fire started, how it affected people both physically and psychologically, and puts one in the middle of a mega fire storm. Great read!
I could almost categorize this under "horror," for all the people went through. I had never heard of this fire before reading this, although considering the number of deadly fires Brown describes later in the book, I suppose that's hardly surprising. Indeed, the thing that most impressed me from this book is the sheer number of decades that passed after this horrific event before restrictions were finally put in place on logging companies to try to avoid like catastrophes. Hundreds and hundreds
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Under a Flaming Sky is a sad yet true story of a fire in Minnesota many years ago. It was recommended to me by a very close friend. I'm glad that he was able to share this sad, yet incredible story with me.
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In late summer of 1894, towering flames stretching many miles wide ripped through a string of small communities in northern Minnesota, obliterating the towns and killing hundreds of people. In the town of Hinckley, people escaped on two trains, one of which was already in flames by the time it pulled out of the station in a desperate attempt to reach a lake 5 miles away.
Author Daniel Brown grew up with this story since his grandfather survived the fire as a child. If you liked The Children’s Bl ...more
Author Daniel Brown grew up with this story since his grandfather survived the fire as a child. If you liked The Children’s Bl ...more
Amazing. I didn’t fully comprehend this horrific fire until reading this well researched account. I should have known from the writing skills that this is the Boys in the Boat author.
Daniel James Brown expertly conveys the not only the human experience, but the science of fire, the logging industry that made this conflagration possible, the railroads that provided quick escape for some, and the medical realities of the victims.
Staggering
Daniel James Brown expertly conveys the not only the human experience, but the science of fire, the logging industry that made this conflagration possible, the railroads that provided quick escape for some, and the medical realities of the victims.
Staggering
Not the type of book I normally read but I was fascinated from the beginning. As someone who has always been very nervous about natural disasters, this book caught my attention and I am amazed that I have never heard of these events before. I give 5 stars to only a very select few books. I judge it on how much I keep thinking about the book afterwards and how much I continue to talk about the book with others.
***Mature readers with strong stomachs only***
I picked up this book because I had read another book by this author (wrote Boys in the Boat) & loved his writing. And because even moreso it’s about the little town of Hinckley, Minnesota - not too far from where we lived. You will either drop this book quickly because it is so disturbing to you - or - not be able to put it down right from the beginning. It’s like a sci-fi thriller (a genre I never read so I’m surmising) that you won’t believe happe ...more
I picked up this book because I had read another book by this author (wrote Boys in the Boat) & loved his writing. And because even moreso it’s about the little town of Hinckley, Minnesota - not too far from where we lived. You will either drop this book quickly because it is so disturbing to you - or - not be able to put it down right from the beginning. It’s like a sci-fi thriller (a genre I never read so I’m surmising) that you won’t believe happe ...more
The greatest (wait, no...the happiest) surprise of my year might be that I've become a fan of a non-fiction writer named Daniel James Brown. In general, non-fiction is not my bag; I'm a fiction fan, the more fantastic the better. However, I love Jon Krakauer, and now I have another author to obsess over: DJB. Under a Flaming Sky came out before The Indifferent Stars Above (a masterpiece), and it's obvious he has grown as a writer since then, but it's still a hella good book that captures the sud
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During a discussion after Thanksgiving dinner of the recent California fires and the tragic loss of lives and property, this book title came up. I was immediately interested because it was history related and I had nothing to read. I borrowed the book from my hostess with her advice that it is difficult to read.
The author did an outstanding job telling of a horrific fire that swept through Hinkley, Minnesota in 1894. It was difficult to put the book down but I felt like I needed periodic breaks ...more
The author did an outstanding job telling of a horrific fire that swept through Hinkley, Minnesota in 1894. It was difficult to put the book down but I felt like I needed periodic breaks ...more
Devastating fires killed more than 400 people and destroyed over 350,000 acres of land in 5 hours in 1894. Through a historical overview and personal stories, author does a good job of portraying the devastation in the loss of human life and in property damage. I look at this as a cautionary tale as to what can happen when rules and regulations devised to preserve the environment and promote safety are not in place. And the country at this point seems to be moving backwards on these points with
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This is really a 4.5 book for me. Extreme Story, well written. It has changed the way I understand humanity and challenges. Grateful the author remembered and honored his grandfather and great-grandfather. Highly recommend this book but, don't read it if you are in the mood for a fluff book. This book does open up your heart and makes you think.
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This was a nail-biter, edge-of-the-seat read. Especially while there's smoke outside from wildfires! Then, it was hand-over-mouth...and then tears... SO tragic. But I felt compelled to read and to finish reading it, even through the tough parts. My heart hurt reading about those families so long ago...and for the families today, going through this. Wildfires and firestorms are still happening. I live in the woods and have had been on evacuation notice a couple of times. Thank goodness, fire scie
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It took me a very long time to finish this, because it was so horrific (and by horrific, I mean the content, not the writing), it made me physically anxious. I loved it though. It was incredibly comprehensive, following a small group of people and how they fared during the fire, as well as after.
What an engrossing book. Makes the fraility of life very obvious. The stories of what happened to the poor people in the towns is heart wrenching.
An unbelievable piece of history. Hard to read at times knowing the outcome. Not good reading for the faint of heart. Some gruesome details of death by fire and burns.
I can't get enough of this author!
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Really engrossing book that kept me hooked all the way through. Learned so much more about wild fires and how out of control they can become
Before satellites and better weather tracking, summer fires could blow up to be massive killers. This is the story of a tragic one that the author's grandfather survived as a child. Well-researched, this is the story of the people and the land and the strategies of the time.
The first few chapters introduce a LOT of people, and you know going in that many of them won't live much longer. Their stories are told by the survivors, and this book honors them in a way too. That said, it is a bit overwhe ...more
The first few chapters introduce a LOT of people, and you know going in that many of them won't live much longer. Their stories are told by the survivors, and this book honors them in a way too. That said, it is a bit overwhe ...more
While the huge firestorm at Peshtigo, Wisconsin in 1871 was, as far as is known, the largest wildfire ever to hit this continent, with the greatest loss of life ever recorded of such a fire, the 1894 firestorm at Hinckley was remarkable for a number of reasons. The first was that it was the last such great fire in what had once been a vast conifer forest spread out across what are now the states of Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, northern Illinois, and southern Canada. The Peshtigo fire burned o
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In 1894, a ferocious firestorm swept through northeast Minnesota, wiping out a number of towns (the biggest one being Hinckley), killing hundreds, and leaving many hundreds more injured and homeless and destitute. The author, whose great-grandfather perished in the fire, does a great job here of combining the accounts of the survivors into a cohesive narrative. When people saw the fire coming, they reacted in a number of different ways. Some hid in their cellars or jumped down wells, some were a
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Apr 27, 2017
Dee Eisel
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Stephanie Jackson,
This is a fantastic book. It's sadder than sad and unflinching as it looks at the horrible things that happened to so many people on that September day in 1894. Brown has a close personal connection to the fire, and the introduction about his grandfather waking up screaming decades later caught my attention right away.
Brown covers the science of fires, but instead of giving it its own chapter he masterfully weaves it into the fabric of the story. I found myself actually holding my breath at some ...more
Brown covers the science of fires, but instead of giving it its own chapter he masterfully weaves it into the fabric of the story. I found myself actually holding my breath at some ...more
In September 1894 a fire hit Hinckley, Minnesota and her neighboring communities. The author's grandfather was a child at that time and lived through the fire. Brown did a great job of giving a history of the area, the time, and some of the families who settled in Hinckley, Minnesota. As the story progressed there was a lot of scientific information given to help the readers understand why the fire did as much damage as it did and even how the weather contributed to it. I learned that not all fi
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I have this strange fascination for disaster survival stories. I think what draws me to them the most is discovering the way people respond when such awful things occur. This book I've read before interestingly enough, but it felt like a first read. Brown has done a phenomenal job of putting the reader in the story. Not only does he tell the story of a horrible wildfire that wreaked havoc, but he also delves into some of the things society has learned about fire over the last hundred years. He t
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As far as narrative non-fiction goes, this was pretty good. I am not a big fan of the genre, but the embellishments necessary to make it viable were less noticeable in this than in some of the more dialogue-heavy narrative works I've read. One of this biggest qualms I have with this book is that he really hits the "everyone is burning to death" note pretty hard and pretty consistently. It paints a vivid picture of the event, but possibly a bit too vivid; it's depressing to hear multiple descript
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“A fact is not a truth until you love it. —John Keats”
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“I lingered a bit longer. The tug of kinship held me there, bound me to the place and to a man I had never known, but without whom I would never have been. I conjured up his image one more time, and then laid back to rest. The late summer darkness drifted down from the sky like a warm mist, enveloping me and the graves before me,uniting us in its soft embrace. The world spun eastward beneath me, and the darkness deepened and spread over Hinckley, over Minnesota, over the American countryside, covering all of us in the same black shroud, tenants in common, tenants of time.”
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