With an insightful, clear-eyed wit, Burnt tells the compelling story of Clare Frank’s long career fighting fire. Frank is scrappy and courageous, wise and vulnerable—a serious badass with a reverence for fire, an irreverent sense of humor, and a mouth that strings together swear words with the best of them. As Frank shatters glass ceilings of the fire world ranks, you will be laughing out loud at firehouse antics, crying on heartbreaking calls, sitting on the edge of your seat during harrowing adventures, and cheering her on as she finds kinship, joy, and a greater sense of herself within this unconventional calling. In the end, Burnt attempts to answer the question of why we love what we love and will speak to anyone who has defied the odds by working hard for what they wanted, following a mysterious and lonely impulse of delight. This is one of the best memoirs I’ve read in a long time.
Clare Frank’s memoir, Burnt , is a wonderful reminder of how those who fall in love with the intensity and magic and deadliness of flames are always best at fighting fire. I was transported back to my childhood, when my brother and I chased wildfires on our bikes, to riverbeds and mountains near our home, to see the towering flames and smell the smoke. Frank’s writing is vivid and beautiful, and her stories of the structure of firefighting lives will resonate with those who love a great story of passion.
author of Mecca and In the Country of Women Susan Straight
In this evocative account of life in the firehouse, Clare Frank portrays the risks firefighters face and the stakes that are now higher than they’ve ever been. She does so with grit and a healthy sense of humor. A must-read.
Burnt is part fire story, part family saga, part diary of a woman rising in a ‘man’s world,’ and it is entirely engrossing. If natural disasters, especially wildfires, are to reshape both where and how we live, then we had better listen to the stories of the people who fight them and the price they pay. This is one of those stories and it’s damn good.
author of American Sirens and A Thousand Naked Str Kevin Hazzard
A heart-racing, heartfelt story that will make readers laugh, cry, and consider what matters most in life. . . .Frank's memoir is packed not only with adrenaline but with sensitivity, thoughtfulness, and creativity. Beware the impulse to race through these 300-plus pages in a single sitting. . . .This exceptional memoir shows wide emotional range in spanning the complexities of firefighting and fire prevention in California and the American West, gender issues, family, work, love, and loss.”
Extraordinary. . .a fascinating, boots-on-the-ground account of her storied career as a firefighter. . . . she takes readers behind the scenes in a play-by-play that is as riveting as it is informative. Every bit of ‘Burnt’ is interesting. . .”
Ominous orange skies and smoke-choked cities: The wildfire crisis is here. Burnt takes you inside. From dirt firefighter to leading thousands, Clare Frank offers a real, humorous, one-of-a-kind front-row seat to wildfires and those who fight them.
executive director of the Climate and Wildfire Ins Caroline Godkin
The path to becoming a firefighter is arduous, especially for a young woman who must contend with gear scaled to fit men, as well as colleagues who believe women should not do this work watching for any misstep. None of this stopped Clare Frank, who recounts her climb from underage rookie to one of California’s highest-ranking fire chiefs.”
Top 10 Books of May Christian Science Monitor
Burnt starts as a personal love letter to firefighting. By the end it also becomes a cri de coeur, a battle cry.
Good memoirs can introduce intriguing individuals and provide access to rarefied pursuits. Author Frank manages both in this account of her fiercely independent life and 30-plus years as a firefighter in California . . . The action scenes are compelling; there are hard-won victories and excruciating losses, and Frank emerges as a relatable and thoroughly human hero.”
In this evocative account of life in the firehouse, Clare Frank portrays the risks firefighters face and the stakes that are now higher than they’ve ever been. She does so with grit and a healthy sense of humor. A must-read.”—Erin Brockovich San Francisco Chronicle Shelf Awareness Kirkus Reviews Christian Science Monitor, Top 10 Books of May Booklist Burnt is part fire story, part family saga, part diary of a woman rising in a ‘man’s world,’ and it is entirely engrossing. If natural disasters, especially wildfires, are to reshape both where and how we live, then we had better listen to the stories of the people who fight them and the price they pay. This is one of those stories and it’s damn good.”—Kevin Hazzard, author of American Sirens and A Thousand Naked Strangers Burnt takes you inside. From dirt firefighter to leading thousands, Clare Frank offers a real, humorous, one-of-a-kind front-row seat to wildfires and those who fight them.”—Caroline Godkin, executive director of the Climate and Wildfire Institute Burnt tells the compelling story of Clare Frank’s long career fighting fire. Frank is scrappy and courageous, wise and vulnerable—a serious badass with a reverence for fire, an irreverent sense of humor, and a mouth that strings together swear words with the best of them. As Frank shatters glass ceilings of the fire world ranks, you will be laughing out loud at firehouse antics, crying on heartbreaking calls, sitting on the edge of your seat during harrowing adventures, and cheering her on as she finds kinship, joy, and a greater sense of herself within this unconventional calling. In the end, Burnt attempts to answer the question of why we love what we love and will speak to anyone who has defied the odds by working hard for what they wanted, following a mysterious and lonely impulse of delight. This is one of the best memoirs I’ve read in a long time.”—Suzanne Roberts, author of Animal Bodies: On Death, Desire, and Other Difficulties Burnt , is a wonderful reminder of how those who fall in love with the intensity and magic and deadliness of flames are always best at fighting fire. I was transported back to my childhood, when my brother and I chased wildfires on our bikes, to riverbeds and mountains near our home, to see the towering flames and smell the smoke. Frank’s writing is vivid and beautiful, and her stories of the structure of firefighting lives will resonate with those who love a great story of passion.”—Susan Straight, author of Mecca and In the Country of Women
2023-03-11
Frank opens on a climacteric point long into her multidecade career: She was in line for a promotion to California’s state chief of fire protection, “a position six ranks above captain, and successor to the director if something took him out of play.” The problem was, after attaining the rank of captain, you can’t ride in a firetruck, and a firetruck is where she was born to be. The author writes about her beginnings as a rookie longing for a fire in California’s backcountry that would allow her to prove herself to those who doubted she belonged; of one surprising ladder maneuver, she writes, “It wasn’t martial arts pretty, but I left some mouths open.” After battling lightning- and human-caused wildfires, stumbling upon remote marijuana fields and meth labs, and facing just about every challenge fire could throw her way, a gruesome injury forced her to leave active service. She studied for a law degree and entered the corporate world for only as long as it took to heal and then got right back out on the line. “I liked lawyering,” she writes, “but it didn’t satisfy me the way firefighting did—especially on a day like [9/11]. While former colleagues packed their bags to help at Ground Zero and my brother drove north to protect our state, I sat in my ergonomically correct chair, shoes kicked off under my desk, feeling useless.” Throughout the book, Frank is energetic and inspirational, especially to women considering work in the field—though she is always candid about the countless dangers of the job, from being caught up in a firestorm to going down in a tanker plane. Regardless of the potential pitfalls, there will be plenty of work in the future, with climate change ensuring that large swaths of California will burn regularly. The author includes a helpful 12-page glossary at the end.
A vigorous and quite timely memoir.
