Wildfire Days: A Woman, a Hotshot Crew, and the Burning American West

In this vivid debut memoir, Ramsey recounts fighting California wildfires for the U.S. Forest Service in 2020 and 2021. When Ramsey was 35, her estranged, unhoused father called her to ask for money, spurring her to “silence grief” about his circumstances with extreme physical exertion, including regular, 14-mile solo hikes in the woods. The next year, following a breakup, Ramsey drew on her newly intense relationship with nature, moved from Texas to California, and took a job with the Forest Service as a wilderness ranger. While living in government barracks with female firefighters, she became “smitten with a new vision of what a woman could be. In a word: strong.” That inspired her to seek a spot with the Rowdy River Hotshots fire crew, an elite group that tackled “the most difficult and remote parts of wildfires.” Ramsey became the only woman on the 20-person team, battling sexism and her own insecurities to help contain a series of blazes, including the massive McCash fire, which spanned from Northern California’s Six Rivers National Forest to “the poison oak–riddled canyons of the Klamath.” Arresting prose, plenty of action, and a strong emotional undercurrent make this sing. Agents: Sam Stoloff and Sulamita Garbuz, Frances Goldin Literary. (June)

Correction: An earlier version of this review misstated which years the author fought wildfires and her age when her father called her to ask for money.