The Hinckley fire

Clara McDermott and her brother Antone Anderson were among the citizens of Hinckley, Minnesota who, on the morning of 1 September 1894 found themselves running for their lives to escape a northern Minnesota firestorm that obliterated the town. A few years after the fire they joined other survivors to form the Fire Survivors’ Association which held annual meetings. Over time the two of them took advantage of these annual reunions to record the stories the association members had to tell about the events of that day.

The book starts with the recollections of Clara and her brother. Once their stories have been told the book moves on to the stories of close relatives and neighbors and then to the stories of other Hinckley citizens. The focus of the book shifts to a series of recollections about the fire as told by several railroad men and passengers. They and their trains, one passenger and one mixed train (combination freight and passenger), ran through the universe of fire that was Hinckley and saved many of the people whose stories are recorded in the book.

The last third of the book consists of recollections of the fire from the standpoint of people who were in the vicinity of Hinckley and/or who were the first to greet and help the fire refugees after their escape.

While no mention is made of the way in which the stories were recorded the variety of styles would suggest the accounts were either taped and transcribed or represent a compilation of first and third person individually written accounts. One aspect of the structure of the book and the accounts which I found very interesting is the overlap of the individual stories. This story overlap both with respect to time and place give the reader a real sense of "being there".

The book is well written and the stories hold the readers interest. If you are interested in stories of survival or stories about railroad life or a mix of both I would recommend this book for your consideration. ( )