UBC Press Firestorm book Paperback 248 pages

For two months in the spring of 2016, the world watched as wildfire ravaged the town of Fort McMurray. Firefighters named the fire “the Beast.” It seemed to be alive with destructive energy, and they hoped never to see anything like it again. Yet it’s not a stretch to imagine we will all soon live in a world in which fires like the Beast are commonplace. In Firestorm, Edward Struzik confronts this new reality, offering a deftly woven tale of science, economics, politics, and human determination. It’s possible for us to flourish in the coming age of megafires – but it will take a radical new approach that requires acknowledging that fires are no longer avoidable. Living with fire also means, Struzik reveals, that we must better understand how the surprising, far-reaching impacts of these massive fires will linger long after the smoke eventually clears.

Edward Struzik is an award-winning writer and photographer. A fellow at the School of Policy Studies, Queen’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy at Queen University in Kingston, his numerous accolades include the prestigious Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy and the Sir Sandford Fleming Medal, awarded for outstanding contributions to the understanding of science. He is also the author of Future Arctic: Field Notes from a World on Edge. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta.