I received a review copy of the essay anthology Red Flag Warning from Edelweiss, a website that distributes books to reviewers in advance of publication.
Red Flag Warning deals with the ongoing tragedy of California wildfires. People losing their homes to the fires and having to evacuate is the most important news story for Californians. Everyone is wondering if their area will be the next to burn.
Some local firefighters watched their own homes burn.
To learn more about the background of the area described in this book, I looked up Taylorsville which is officially a part of Plumas County, California with a population of 150. Red Flag Warning mentions that the local tavern displayed a mural of the flag of the proposed state of Jefferson. This implies that at least some of the residents would like to secede from California.
Below is an image of the Jefferson state flag:
Dan Kearns was regarded as the leader of those in Taylorsville who refused to evacuate in the face of the Dixie Fire and the much smaller Fly Fire advancing toward the town. It seemed to me that Dan Kearns was being romanticized as a "frontiersman" from the Wild West, but Kearns didn't make such claims about himself. He said he was "just a guy" who was a local fire volunteer.
When I read that those in the evacuation camps were getting sick from smoke inhalation, it seemed to me that the camps were too close to the fires. Admittedly, the Dixie Fire was the largest single source fire in California history. Yet I really think the camps should have been further away.
The author of that particular essay thinks that people watch news about their disaster for entertainment. I watch and am reading about your disaster wondering when I'll have to evacuate myself. I don't think my area is immune to disaster. I also don't think I'm the only one who has that fear.
I was particularly interested in reading about incarcerated firefighters. Incarcerated firefighters are one third of California's firefighting force. They earn $2-$5 per day which becomes $1-$2 per hour while they are fighting an active fire.
I found the interview with formerly incarcerated firefighter Brandon Smith illuminating. He was from gang territory in Los Angeles County. Smith was trained to fight fires in prison and became employed as a firefighter after he was released. He was the first formerly incarcerated firefighter to become a professional firefighter. Brandon Smith initially refused to be a firefighter, but he liked the idea of serving the public when he'd been called a "public nuisance".
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3/5/2025 Important Note
I have learned since reading this book that Brandon Smith lost his home in Altadena to the Eaton Fire. I think this man is a genuine hero and that he deserves support. I generally don't put financial solicitations on this blog but I thought that those who are inclined to contribute should be aware that there is a Go Fund Me Page for Brandon Smith.
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Smith told interviewer Dani Burlison that many localities require that firefighters be certified as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). You can't become an EMT if you have two felony convictions and if you have one felony conviction, you may not be eligible for EMT training until 5-10 years after your sentence is served.
Since there is a shortage of firefighters in California, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that formerly incarcerated firefighters "without any issues" could apply to have their felony convictions expunged. I would assume that no issues means that the formerly incarcerated firefighter hadn't committed any crimes, or been charged with any since being released from prison.
As fire swept through Southern California, Margaret Elysia Garcia, the author of that particular essay, said that she was thinking of deceased science fiction author Octavia Butler, who grew up in Pasadena and is buried in Altadena which was partly burned. Her novel Parable of the Sower deals with the impact of climate change, and predicts a similar political situation to the one we have now. There is a scene in Parable of the Sower in which the protagonist was walking on Highway 20 through Lake County, and both sides of the highway are burning. Garcia was re-reading that scene on the first day of the Valley Fire. I can imagine the horror that Garcia would have been feeling as fiction was fast becoming fact.
I found a chart of The Top 20 Most Destructive California Wildfires. I note that the Eaton and Palisades wildfires,which are listed as the second and third most destructive, were 2025 wildfires. They are 100% contained, but their causes are still under investigation.
This book is very significant and had a powerful impact on me. I'm giving it a grade of A +.
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