"Skillfully wielding his narrative talent, Cary J. Griffith leads readers into the blistering heart of the 2007 Ham Lake fire, one of the most destructive in Minnesota history."--Peter M. Leschak, author of Ghosts of the Fireground and Letters from Side Lake "Cary J. Griffith invites his readers beneath the smoke and flames of a running crown wildfire to show us the massive coordinated response to one camper's carelessness. His precise research and his clearheaded storytelling serve admirably to underscore the skill, selfless dedication, and love of place and community that sustained foresters, firefighters, outfitters, pilots, food suppliers, and residents through a truly heroic struggle."--Cheri Register, author of The Big Marsh: The Story of a Lost Landscape " Gunflint Burning brings the adrenaline, the falling ash, the smell of smoke, and the jarring scream of a crown fire to its detailed narrative of a wildfire in one of America's best-loved wilderness areas. Cary J.

Griffith carries the reader over portages, across lakes, and through burning cabins to show how wildfire increasingly burns through our lives."--Rocky Barker, author of Scorched Earth: How the Fires of Yellowstone Changed America "In Gunflint Burning , Cary J. Griffith has penned the consummate story of one of the great wildfire disasters in the history of Minnesota. Expertly reported and cleverly written, this account of the Ham Lake fire of 2007 reads like a thriller and an environmental treatise all in one. This is no coincidence, given Griffith's bona fides. Gunflint Burning is one of those rare books for just about anyone."--Peter Geye, author of Wintering " Gunflint Burning is a cautionary tale for anyone who's kindled a warming blaze while camping. But it's also about the consequences of carelessness, the depth of community, the value of knife-edge coordination and--perhaps most of all--how an expanse of lakes and rocks and trees in northernmost Minnesota can inspire people to work past exhaustion to save it.

"-- Star Tribune " Gunflint Burning offers a very real sense of what it was like for those who faced the prospect of losing everything to the raging fire, and how they struggled and rallied to subdue it."-- West Central Tribune "Cary J. Griffith has given a cinema-worthy blow-by-blow account of the people, places, and events associated with the massive wildfire."-- Foreword Reviews "It struck me while reading this book that all wilderness outfitters should consider sending it to their customers, either as a gift, or included in the price of their reservation. They'll learn how easy it is for even an experienced camper to accidentally start a crown fire that in two weeks consumed 75,000 acres of forest and 144 buildings, requiring 1,000 firefighters and $11 million to defeat."-- Lake Superior Magazine.