The Esperanza Fire: Arson, Murder and the Agony of Engine 57

by John N. Maclean Narrated by Pete Larkin

Overview

A riveting, you-are-there account of the tightly-knit forest service engine crew that perished battling “the perfect storm of wildland fires,” which led to the first-ever conviction of a wildland arsonist for first degree murder.

The Esperanza Fire started October 26, 2006, in the San Jacinto Mountains above the Banning Pass near Cabazon, California. It destroyed 41,000 acres and dozens of homes and cost the taxpayers $16 million dollars. But by far the highest costs of the conflagration were the lives of the five-man crew of Engine 57, the first engine crew ever killed fighting a wildland blaze. Fire and superheated gases had erupted in a freak “area ignition,” sending flames racing across three-quarters of a mile in mere seconds, engulfing the crew and the house they were defending.

The deadly blaze was quickly determined to be no accident. Within a week, serial arsonist Raymond Lee Oyler was arrested and charged with almost two dozen counts of arson-and five counts of first degree murder. The Esperanza Fire recounts with drama and precision the gripping details of the fire and of Oyler's precedent-shattering trial and its stunning conclusion.

John Maclean spent more than five years researching the Esperanza Fire and covering the trial of Raymond Oyler. The result is a thrilling, moment-to-moment insider's chronicle of that devastating and tragic inferno and the pursuit, capture, and prosecution of the man who intentionally set it.

Editorial Reviews

OCTOBER 2013 - AudioFile

As a devastating fire rages through a swath of California land, thousands of acres and homes are caught in its path. Several firefighters are killed. John Maclean puts together three parts of the same story: the fire itself; a biographical look at those who fought, and died, fighting it; and the capture of the man who was eventually convicted for igniting the blaze. Narrator Pete Larkin adapts well. At times, he keeps to a tone as straight as his narration when someone is being quoted. Other times, though, he imitates a character’s voice in his own way. His best—unique and seemingly befitting—is the slightly dumbed-down voice of the arsonist whom investigators track and bring to justice. Larkin brings a theatrical style, respectfully, to the narration of this true story. M.B. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

Wildfire magazine

“Poetic and impeccably reported.”
—Wildfire magazine

Wildland Fire magazine

“Maclean is a highly skilled journalist and a fine writer. His ability to mold fragments from the incident—thoughts, actions, variables and decisions—into a fluid account is riveting. . . . Fair, complete and masterfully done.”
—Wildland Fire magazine

The Washington Post

“Maclean is a fine storyteller . . . he writes a chiseled prose that does justice to the action.”
—The Washington Post

The Forestry Source

“It reads like a taut murder mystery, a whodunit novel you can’t put down.”
—The Forestry Source

OCTOBER 2013 - AudioFile

As a devastating fire rages through a swath of California land, thousands of acres and homes are caught in its path. Several firefighters are killed. John Maclean puts together three parts of the same story: the fire itself; a biographical look at those who fought, and died, fighting it; and the capture of the man who was eventually convicted for igniting the blaze. Narrator Pete Larkin adapts well. At times, he keeps to a tone as straight as his narration when someone is being quoted. Other times, though, he imitates a character’s voice in his own way. His best—unique and seemingly befitting—is the slightly dumbed-down voice of the arsonist whom investigators track and bring to justice. Larkin brings a theatrical style, respectfully, to the narration of this true story. M.B. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170040728
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	08/27/2013
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	1,067,516

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