San Francisco Is Burning: The Untold Story of the 1906 Earthquake and Fires | 
| Author: Dennis Smith
Publisher: Plume
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 739614
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 0452287596
Dewey Decimal Number: 973
EAN: 9780452287594
ASIN: 0452287596
Publication Date: August 29, 2006
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Condition: NEW BOOK UNREAD MAY HAVE A REMAINDER MARK
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Product Description
Killing hundreds and leaving a city in ruins, the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 stands as one of the greatest natural disasters in American history. But the aftermath of the quakethe fires that raged across the city for days and claimed the lives of thousands morewas an all too human disaster whose story has remained largely untold. Until now. Employing the same vivid prose and storytelling skill that made his Report from Ground Zero a national bestseller, Dennis Smith reconstructs those harrowing days from the perspective of the people who lived through them. Smith draws on hundreds of individual accounts and official documents to unearth the true story of the firesfrom the corrupt officials who left the city woefully unprepared for disaster, to the militia officers who enforced martial law with deadly force, to the individual heroes who battled the blaze and saved untold lives. San Francisco Is Burning is a thrilling disaster tale that brings a lost chapter of history back to riveting life. BACKCOVER: Riveting.
The Washington Post
So riveting it is enraging[Smiths] message is the one that matters most.
San Francisco Chronicle
A finely woven human story of tragedy, death, heroism and blunderThis book is an eye-opener in many ways, and a good read, to boot.
The Associated Press
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 Lessons from 100 Years Ago November 30, 2007
Dennis Smith's well-researched account of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and ensuing fires delivers a level of fine detail on a disaster that is all too relevant 100 years later. It is a story of predictable disaster, inadequate preparation, government incompetence and corruption, fear, power, and greed.
But, most of all, it is a story of heroism. Smith, a former New York City firefighter, effectively tells the story of the San Francisco earthquake and fires from street level. He tells us about homeowners - who, despite being ordered out of the city at the point of a gun - tried to save their property (and how, if they'd been allowed to do so, perhaps could have prevented many of the fires from spreading). He tells us about the San Francisco firefighters who left their own homes and families to work for days on end, without rest, relying on an inadequate, low-pressure, underfunded and damaged water system. He tells us about Navy lieutenant Frederick N. Freeman, who, through his own initiative, took heroic action to aid the firefighting and rescue efforts.
Among those who died as a result of the earthquake was San Francisco's most experienced fire chief, Dennis Sullivan. He plunged 40 feet through an unseen hole in his apartment above the firehouse in the minutes after the quake struck, landing in the basement next to a boiler spewing scalding water and steam. He died four days later.
The fires burned for three days. More than 28,000 structures were lost as a result of the twin catastrophes. More than 3,000 people died and 225,000 were left homeless. Property damage has been estimated at $400 million in 1906 dollars.
Although Smith's book is made choppy by an over-reliance on chapter breaks - there are 95 chapters in 277 pages - "San Francisco Is Burning" reminds us, sadly, that we have learned too little in the last hundred years about disaster prevention, control or relief. I recommend it to every first responder, every disaster management official, and to every citizen.
 My ancestors experience November 14, 2007
My grandparents,their first child (who died of meningitis two months after the quake at age 13 month) great grand parents 2 aunts,and a grand uncle lived in SF during the earthquake, this book gives me some background of what they saw and lived through. My mother was born in 1907 and lived in SF for two years. She just died Sept 6th, 2007 age 100. Anyone wanting to know what it was like day to day would enjoy the pages of this book.
Terrific May 25, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Firefighter Smith (FDNY, Ret) is one of my personal heroes and he has not let me down with this book. I now feel I have an intimate and personal connection with the tragedy of 1906. I was unable to put this book down. FF Smith's unique ability to weave the facts among the personal accounts of real people draw you in and grip you with their honesty, bravery and desperation.
Well written - easy read May 1, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book brings the events surrounding the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the resulting fires really come to life. It was a great read - a thriller in its own right. This author makes it easy to see the events in your mind's eye and brings an updated view of historic events based on new information. Very good!
The Katrina and 9-11 of 1906 February 19, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
For this native San Franciscan, the April 1906 earthquake and fire has lurked mysteriously in the background of family history. SAN FRANCISCO IS BURNING has cleared away the cobwebs and although I did not find my own ancestors among those people Dennis Smith animates from letters, journals and newspaper accounts, I now know in incredible detail what they must have experienced.
Smith is a firefighter and a historian of firefighting. He is also a talented writer who decided to write a historical narrative, not an academic tract, and as such the reader is moved breathlessly through the events of April 1906 without tripping over tangled language and footnotes. Smith creates a chronological account, moving back and forth between the close-up stories of a fireman and his family, an unsung Naval hero, noble civic leaders, corrupt politicians, an Army general, a nun shepherding orphans through the streets and a Chinese immigrant searching for his fiance. He only stops long enough to tell back stories of San Francisco's history and provide a gloss on the science of earthquakes and fires.
By far the most important aspect of this book is Smith's fearless analysis of the human error, as well as the human triumphs, that contributed to the magnitude of the tragedy as well as to its eventual solution and the revival of the city. He corrects the long held belief that General Funston was the hero who saved the day. In fact, that's what Funston told everyone as he made decisions that fueled the fires and brought on loss of life, not only in fire but through a chaotically imposed state of martial law that had soldiers and citizens killing people left and right. Funston also suppressed evidence of the heroism of naval Lieutenant Freeman, who fought the fires tirelessly instead of responding to Funston's order for a gofer.
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