Fire Weather

 Tell me a story... about how climate change is affecting forest fires

Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World by John Vaillant

Publication date: June 6, 2023

Date read: November 6, 2024

Audiobook read by Alan Carlson

In May 2016, Fort McMurray, the hub of Canada’s oil industry and America’s biggest foreign supplier, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster melted vehicles, turned entire neighborhoods into firebombs, and drove 88,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the lens of this apocalyptic conflagration—the wildfire equivalent of Hurricane Katrina—John Vaillant warns that this was not a unique event but a shocking preview of what we must prepare for in a hotter, more flammable world.

Reading this book just a few months before the recent California wildfires started, it definitely gives me a different outlook on what we're going through right now as a country. 

This is a difficult book to rate and review, because it's not an easy read; it is a heavily researched, dense book. I can't say that I was enjoying myself while reading it, but what I can say is that I learned a lot and it left me with a lot to think about. This is the kind of book that can get away with being a little long-winded, because it's research-heavy and not supposed to be about plot or characters.

I really liked that the book dealt with not just fires, but with climate change in general. I think that most people could stand to read this book, especially those who question whether climate change is real. (I'm not going to get political in this - or any - review, but there is no question that there are those who don't believe that climate change is a problem.) This book is scary because of what it implies that we will be seeing in the years to come. 

I definitely recommend the audiobook for this one, simply due to the dense research and heavy subject. Vaillant doesn't talk over the reader's head and you don't need an advanced degree to understand what he's talking about, but I can just say that, in my personal experience as a reader, this is the kind of book that I usually get more out of in audio form. 

I do recommend this book to all readers, simply because the topic is so prescient. It's not an easy read, but it is an important one. 

Content warning: forest fires, death

Rating: 4/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.