Fire!

The harrowing stories and vivid images of the most devastating fires throughout history come alive in this groundbreaking volume, rich with history, science and breathtaking real-life adventure.

The 100 most infamous fires through the ages leap full-blown from the pages of FIRE!, complete with the ravages caused by the consuming infernos and the courage of the men and women who fought the conflagrations. Lively artwork and photographs on show blazing buildings, tragedy-stricken survivors, charred destruction, and firefighters in the heat of the battle. Fascinating history, along with technical information about the nature, causes and behavior of fires, take readers into the dangerous and complex world of firefighting, to examine the first fire engines and brigades; to understand how and why fires are sometimes set to put out fires; when airdrops are used; how to avoid dangerous backdrafts; and much, much more. The book features fires from the beginning of recorded history and includes the 1666 Great London Fire, the 1858 New York Crystal Palace Fire, the 1902 Atlantic City Fire, the

1906 San Francisco Fire, the World War II Dresden Firestorm, the 1980 MGM Grand Hotel and Casino Fire, the 1991 Oakland/Berkeley Hills Fire and the Los Alamos Wildfires of 2000.

EDWARD C. GOODMAN, MLS, is the General Editor of the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals at Columbia University. He is the editor of the Forbes Book of Business Quotations (Black Dog & Leventhal) and has written many articles for university and other publications. He became interested in fire fighting from his studies of architecture and history.