Published in 2017
256 pages
Mary Emerick was a wildland firefighter for over 20 years, and the author of her novel, The Geography of Water.7Mary has published numerous essays in anthologies, magazines and online publications. She was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2011. She currently lives and works for the US Forest Service in Joseph, Oregon.
What is this book about?
Fire In The Heart is a powerful memoir by a woman, once a shy, insecure schoolgirl, who reinvented herself as a professional wildlands firefighter. Determined to forge herself into a stronger, braver person, Mary climbs to new heights for a woman in the field in the early 90s, eventually directing wildfire forces from the Florida swamp to Alaska’s interior. Filled with literal struggles for survival, tough choices and Mary’s burning passion for what she does, Fire in the Heart, is an unflinching account of one woman’s relationship with fire. But when she loses someone she loves to the famous Storm King Mountain forest fire in Colorado, which killed fourteen firefighters, Mary faces the hardest choice of her life; to stay in the game or turn back and try to find the woman she used to be. It is both a thrilling memoir about life-threatening work and a meditation on identity, strength, bravery, bonds, and survivor’s guilt.
