Smokejumper: A Memoir by One of America's Most Select Airborne Firefighters

Great read. I had trouble putting it down. Can't say anything bad about it. I worked in the fire service for 43 years, with the last 28 of them in a dispatch center. From my point of view too many of the decisions are based on only through the prism of 'how much does something cost. Again very good book. Will recommend it to all my firefighter friends.

Great background on Smoke Jumping history. Liked Ramos's description of what it was like to go through rookie training as well as the daily life of a Smoke Jumper. More people need to read this to understand the outstanding service these Smoke Jumpers provide often under extreme stress and danger to their lives. The danger could be greatly reduced if they were deployed sooner on small fires instead of waiting for mega-fires to get established before jumping. As un-biased a view as possible is provided by Ramos about the politics of wildland fire fighting. Politicians and FMO's at state and national levels should read and listen to what Ramos has to say!

This book is a fantastic read, a compelling story that I could not put it down! It is an interesting and exciting, well-written book that educated me about wildfires and the remarkable people (like Jason) who fight them! I enjoyed reading about the history of firefighting, and I became totally engrossed in the many exciting, and sometimes tragic stories that Jason tells about his rigorous training and years of work as a Smokejumper. My husband and I have had the pleasure of meeting Jason in recent years, and I was totally impressed with his book! We have been on one of his tours of the Smokejumper Base in Winthrop and I highly recommend that anyone who is in the area stops by for a tour. The Pacific Northwest is currently having the worst fire season in history. Having read this book makes me so much more appreciative of what firefighters are doing across my home state right now! Thanks, Jason, for all of your years of service and for writing this book!

This is a good read, and one that if someone asked me if they should read it, I would probably say yes, however, I don't think I would ever recommend this book without prompting.My biggest gripe is the poor organization of the book. The author tries to weave in tails of his life and historical accounts of fires, which I actually think he does relatively well. My only problem is that he doesn't tell his life story in a linear fashion, often jumping back to tell us about more stories from his firefighting days that weren't as a smokejumper, which in a way makes this book more about firefighting than smokejumpers. The author jumps around a lot from paragraph to paragraph - one paragraph is talking about gear and the next about a random story out in the woods and then the next is about something completely different. Chapter divisions feel more like random stop points than an actual way to organize a story.I also tend to agree with some of the other reviews that the author can come across as a bit preachy at times. Ranting about how there haven't been enough gear advances but then also saying that the best gear has to be made by smokejumpers feels counterproductive (material scientists know a lot more about heat resistant materials for making personal protection shelters than smokejumpers do.) The author definitely puts the profession on a pedestal, which I think comes from the fact that he is using the book as a defense of needing the profession. Through this, a lot of his points feel circular with the author relying on pounding his arguments with brute force rather than different arguments and evidence. I think the author needed to sit down and decide if he wanted to write a memoir or a defense of smokejumping before writing this because it ends up not quite accomplishing either.Ultimately, the book could have used a better editor for organization and trimming down needs, but it is still a decent read.

I enjoyed this book and I learned a lot from it. The book tells of the process of becoming a smoke jumper, how they train and what they do. There's a lot of the daily life of a smoke jumper and wildfire fighter. This is not a history of famous wild fires. Mr. Ramos mentions several different ones but only in the sense of what can be learned from them and how injuries and death might be avoided. I think even the civilian like myself might benefit from the book in gaining a better understanding how wildfires can develop and thus avoid bad situations - when and how to get out of an area for example. I thought it was well written and an entertaining book.

I liked this book enough to give a copy to a friend who had been a smokejumper in the late 60s. Mr. Ramos writes clearly and with passion about wildfire. I enjoyed the histories of the big fires, as well as his inside knowledge about fire fighting safety and technology. He writes as someone who was first-hand in the fires. I love non-fiction, and I've read most books about fire, starting with the classic Young Men and Fire. My mother, in her 90s, enjoyed it too.

I really enjoyed this book. It has lots of interesting story’s and taught me a lot about what smokejumpers do. I did take one star off though, because it’s not very well written. It was wrote by a firefighter (not a writer) and the editor did their best, but there is only so much you can do.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read! Mr. Ramos tells in great detail about the training he went through to become a smokejumper and about the reality of the job. It’s insane. I can’t even put to words what huge respect I have for the men and women in this profession. I loved every minute of this book. Once I started reading, it was crazy hard to put it down, and I was dismayed when it ended.”Noooo, I wanted more!”That’s kind of my only complaint: I wish there had been more. I feel as if the book didn’t quite answer all the questions it set out to cover. Nonetheless, it was tremendously interesting and informative, and 100% worth the read. I heartily recommend this to anyone who wants to know what it’s like to leap out of planes to put out wildfires. 4,5 stars from me.

Yes, this is an excellent book recording the history of these wild fire initial attack responders. Over the years these fire fighters have proven their value in numerous unbelievable situations which unfortunately resulted in injury and death. The author provides a vivid insight to traditional fire suppression activities and the high risk of personal injury and death.Over the years the smokejumpers have kept in-step with new communication technologies and larger aircraft associated with related advances in initial attack procedures including fixed-wing and helicopter water/retardant bombers. The book serves as a memorial to colleagues injured and killed in the line of duty.A "good read" and fitting memorial to lost colleagues.

If you are interested in smokejumping and fighting wildfires, read this book. In fact, even if you are not, read it anyway - you will be by the time you’ve finished it.Here’s someone who has a great story to tell and the talent to tell it well.Smokejumper may be a plain title, but between the covers is a fascinating book. Part personal story, part history of wildfires, part introduction to the art of fighting them, all expertly woven together into a fascinating, entertaining and educational story. The author’s adventurous spirit, tireless determination and passion for smokejumping shine through on every page. Sometimes sad, sometimes funny and always entertaining this is a well-written book and very easy to read. Too easy in fact, two afternoons and I had finished it. And I didn’t want it to end.

Very fast service.

I've always been interested in the the idea of smokejumping, being from the UK we don't have the need for such units but selfishly wish we did. Ramos paints a brilliantly in depth picture in to this Elite cult of Firefighters.