Fire, both inevitable and ubiquitous, plays a crucial role in North American ecosystems. But as necessary as fire is to maintaining healthy ecosystems, it threatens human lives and livelihoods in unacceptable ways. This volume explores the rich yet largely uncharted terrain at the intersection of fire policy, fire science, and fire management in order to find better ways of addressing this pressing dilemma. Written in clear language, it will help scientists, policy makers, and the general public, especially residents of fire-prone areas, better understand where we are today in regard to coping with wildfires, how we got here, and where we need to go. Drawing on abundant historical and analytic information to shed new light on current controversies, Living with Fire offers a dynamic new paradigm for coping with fire that recognizes its critical environmental role. The book also tells how we can rebuild the important ecological and political processes that are necessary for finding better ways to cope with fire and with other complex policy dilemmas.

Within the Yarra River catchment area nestles the valley of Steels Creek, a small shallow basin in the lee of Kinglake plateau and the Great Dividing Range. The escarpment walls of the range drop in a series of ridges to the valley and form the south-eastern boundary of the Kinglake National Park. The gentle undulations that flow out from the valley stretch into the productive and picturesque landscape of Victoria’s famous wine growing district, the Yarra Valley. Late on the afternoon of 7 February 2009, the day that came to be known as Black Saturday, the Kinglake plateau carried a massive conflagration down the fringing ranges into the Steels Creek community. Ten people perished and 67 dwellings were razed in the firestorm. In the wake of the fires, the devastated residents of the valley began the long task of grieving, repairing, rebuilding or moving on while redefining themselves and their community. In Living with Fire, historians Tom Griffiths and Christine Hansen trace both the history of fire in the region and the human history of the Steels Creek valley in a series of essays which examine the relationship between people and place. These essays are interspersed with four interludes compiled from material produced by the community. In the immediate aftermath of the fire many people sought to express their grief, shock, sadness and relief in artwork. Some painted or wrote poetry, while others collected the burnt remains of past treasures from which they made new objects. These expressions, supplemented by historical archives and the essays they stand beside, offer a sensory and holistic window into the community’s contemporary and historical experiences. A deeply moving book, Living with Fire brings to life the stories of one community’s experience with fire, offering a way to understand the past, and in doing so, prepare for the future.

Living a Life of Fire is more than simple facts about an evangelist's life, it is filled with adventures from the heart of Africa, real-life dramatic stories of people and places that will leave you on the edge of your seat, and powerful demonstrations of the Holy Spirit working in the here and now. An autobiography of the life of one of God's generals that has left a legacy that is still impacting nations today.

In this rugged account of a rugged profession, Matthew Desmond explores the heart and soul of the wildland firefighter. Having joined a firecrew in Northern Arizona as a young man, Desmond relates his experiences with intimate knowledge and native ease, adroitly balancing emotion with analysis and action with insight. On the Fireline shows that these firefighters aren’t the adrenaline junkies or romantic heroes as they’re so often portrayed. An immersion into a dangerous world, On the Fireline is also a sophisticated analysis of a high-risk profession—and a captivating read. “Gripping . . . a masterful account of how young men are able to face down wildfire, and why they volunteer for such an enterprise in the first place.”—David Grazian, Sociological Forum “Along with the risks and sorrow, Desmond also presents the humor and comaraderie of ordinary men performing extraordinary tasks. . . . A good complement to Norman Maclean's Young Men and Fire. Recommended.”—Library Journal

The biography of one of the world's most earth-shattering African-American writers

A preeminent physicist unveils a field-defining theory of the origins and purpose of life. Why are we alive? Most things in the universe aren't. And everything that is alive traces back to things that, puzzlingly, weren't. For centuries, the scientific question of life's origins has confounded us. But in Every Life Is on Fire, physicist Jeremy England argues that the answer has been under our noses the whole time, deep within the laws of thermodynamics. England explains how, counterintuitively, the very same forces that tend to tear things apart assembled the first living systems. But how life began isn't just a scientific question. We ask it because we want to know what it really means to be alive. So England, an ordained rabbi, uses his theory to examine how, if at all, science helps us find purpose in a vast and mysterious universe. In the tradition of Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, Every Life Is on Fire is a profound testament to how something can come from nothing.

Keep Your Fire Burning In A Life Ablaze, author Rick Renner offers an on-time message that is crucial for every Christian in this end-time season of the Church. Ricks thought-provoking questions at the outset will echo in the readers heart with each turn of a page: Do you struggle to keep the fire of the Holy Spirit burning in your heart with the same fiery intensity as the early days of your walk with Jesus? Do you feel like only a few glowing embers remain and even those are growing cold? If you are on fire for God, are you eager to know how you can stay ablaze for Jesus until He comes again? If any of these questions describes you, its time to stoke the fire within so it never stops burning brightly in your heart! Rick will enlighten you with key insights from Gods Word on the kinds of spiritual fuel you must have to stay spiritually ablaze. Not one of these fuels is optional all are necessary to fulfill your God-given purpose on this earth. A Life Ablaze will ignite and encourage you to burn red-hot as you do your part to fulfill Gods great plan for such a time as this!

In The Circle of Fire (formerly published as Prayers: A Communion With Our Creator) Ruiz inspires us to enter into a new and loving relationship with ourselves, with our fellow humans, and with all of creation. Through a selection of beautiful essays, prayers, and guided meditations, Ruiz prepares our minds for a new way of seeing life, and opens our hearts to find our way back to our birthright: heaven on earth. The result is a life lived in joy, harmony, and contentment. In my teachings, "The Circle of Fire" ceremony celebrates the most important day of our lives: the day when we merge with the fire of our spirit, and return to our own divinity. This is the day when we recover the awareness of what we really are, and make the choice to live in communion with that force of creation we call "Life" or "God." From that day forward, we live with unconditional love in our hearts for ourselves, for life, for everything in creation. This book, first published in 2001 as "Prayers: A Communion with Our Creator," will remind you of what you really are. It has always been my favorite book, and now in honor of my favorite prayer, it has been appropriately renamed "The Circle of Fire." -- don Miguel Ruiz