A Fire Story

On Monday, October 9, 2017, Brian Fies and his wife Karen grabbed some things and got in their car for what they thought were precautionary measures because of wildfires. Hours later, they were homeless. 

The fires they escaped were some of the most destructive this country has ever seen, and they ravage Northern California. This book is an intimate look at lives forever changed, how people deal with large-scale destruction in terms of emotional reactions and the practical matters of dealing with relief agencies and other institutional entities. One of the parts that sticks most in my head is Fies dealing with the utilities company, whose representative keeps asking inane questions about whether workers would have clear access to the meter. "Unlimited access," he deadpanned, "but there's no gas meter there anymore." 

The wide array of emotions and somewhat surreal situations that accompany such loss make this book memorable. The personal tale packs a wallop, especially when it is accompanied by several other text pieces told from the perspective of others that the fires affected. As a whole, this book is a wonderfully detailed mosaic of the resilience of the survivors and how some begin to rebuild their lives. This book is moving and informative, giving great insight into how people cope with and survive a natural disaster.

This book's author, Brian Fies began this story as a 18-page comic he published on his blog, adapted it into a Emmy Award-winning animated short, and then expanded it into this graphic novel version. He speaks of the entire process in this video. He also speaks about sharing his story as a graphic novel in this interview. Fies is an Eisner Award winning creator who has created a couple of other graphic novels, the autobiographical Mom's Cancer and the nonfiction long-form essay Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? I also had the honor of being on a panel with him at the 2019 Denver Pop Culture Con.

I was very moved and impressed by this book, but some of the reviews I have read have been more critical. Caitlin Rosberg opined, "It’s a heartfelt, emotional read that has just as much historical and social worth as it does personal value, and a reminder of the best and worst parts of what people can be." Alex Hoffman wrote, "The full book feels scattered, unable to hold the weight of Fies’ trauma." Josh Kramer thought that perhaps the book was rushed and called it "good memoir and inadequate journalism."

A Fire Story was published by Abrams, and they offer a preview and more about it here.