Fire Season

Episode

First
Broadcast

Comments

20110822

Written by Philip Connor. Abridged by Jane Marshall.

For nearly a decade, Philip Connors has spent half of each year in a 7 foot by 7 foot room at the top of a tower, on top of a mountain, alone in millions of acres of remote American wilderness. His job: to look for wildfires.

Capturing the wonder and grandeur of this most unusual job and place, Fire Season evokes both the eerie pleasure of solitude and the majesty, might and beauty of untamed fire at its wildest. Connors' time on the peak is filled with drama - there are fires large and small; spectacular midnight lightning storms and silent mornings awakening above the clouds; surprise encounters with smokejumpers and black bears. Filled with Connors' heartfelt reflections on our place in the wild, Fire Season is an instant modern classic: a remarkable memoir that is at once a homage to the beauty of nature, the blessings of solitude, and the freedom of the independent spirit.

Read by Kerry Shale

Produced by Jane Marshall

A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4.

Philip Connors' enchanting notes from a wilderness lookout as he watches for wildfires.

20110823

Written by Philip Connor. Abridged by Jane Marshall.

In April there's little lightning in the Gila wilderness so a fire is unlikely, meanwhile the fire lookout spies the first hummingbird of the season from his tower and learns once more to embrace the solitary nature of his summer job.

Read by Kerry Shale

Produced by Jane Marshall

A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4.

Twenty paces from his cabin is the fire lookout's tower and an endlessly absorbing view.

20110824

Written by Philip Connor. Abridged by Jane Marshall.

Near the end of April, with the snow melted, the mule packers arrive with supplies and ask the fire lookout if he ever gets lonely or sad in his wilderness lookout but he's not about to confide the near mystical feelings he experiences to two guys in leather chaps and cowboy hats.

Read by Kerry Shale

Produced by Jane Marshall

A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4.

The mule packers arrive with the fire lookout's supplies and ask if he ever gets lonely.

20110825

Written by Philip Connor. Abridged by Jane Marshall.

May is relentless with wind, the fire lookout's tower vibrates, guy wires scream and the distant hills are swallowed in dust. As he spots a cloud rise from the hills his eye is drawn to the contours but he decides the spiral is just dust, it's colour and movement don't jibe with smoke. He quits his post early and finds a spot of early evening peace by a mountain pond.

Read by Kerry Shale

Produced by Jane Marshall

A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4.

May is relentless with wind, the tower vibrates and dust spirals off the mountains.

05 LAST

20110826

Written by Philip Connor. Abridged by Jane Marshall.

A new relief lookout appears on the mountain but the author is unsure that he has what it takes to cope alone in the wilderness. And some smokejumpers arrive to put out a fire, which reminds the author of the famous tragedy of the Mann Gulch fire which inspired Norman Maclean's famous book.

Read by Kerry Shale

Produced by Jane Marshall

A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4.

A new relief lookout appears on the mountain, but will he be able to cope alone?

Episodes

Episode	First Broadcast	Comments
01	20110822	Written by Philip Connor. Abridged by Jane Marshall. For nearly a decade, Philip Connors has spent half of each year in a 7 foot by 7 foot room at the top of a tower, on top of a mountain, alone in millions of acres of remote American wilderness. His job: to look for wildfires. Capturing the wonder and grandeur of this most unusual job and place, Fire Season evokes both the eerie pleasure of solitude and the majesty, might and beauty of untamed fire at its wildest. Connors' time on the peak is filled with drama - there are fires large and small; spectacular midnight lightning storms and silent mornings awakening above the clouds; surprise encounters with smokejumpers and black bears. Filled with Connors' heartfelt reflections on our place in the wild, Fire Season is an instant modern classic: a remarkable memoir that is at once a homage to the beauty of nature, the blessings of solitude, and the freedom of the independent spirit. Read by Kerry Shale Produced by Jane Marshall A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4. Philip Connors' enchanting notes from a wilderness lookout as he watches for wildfires.
02	20110823	Written by Philip Connor. Abridged by Jane Marshall. In April there's little lightning in the Gila wilderness so a fire is unlikely, meanwhile the fire lookout spies the first hummingbird of the season from his tower and learns once more to embrace the solitary nature of his summer job. Capturing the wonder and grandeur of this most unusual job and place, Fire Season evokes both the eerie pleasure of solitude and the majesty, might and beauty of untamed fire at its wildest. Connors' time on the peak is filled with drama - there are fires large and small; spectacular midnight lightning storms and silent mornings awakening above the clouds; surprise encounters with smokejumpers and black bears. Read by Kerry Shale Produced by Jane Marshall A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4. Twenty paces from his cabin is the fire lookout's tower and an endlessly absorbing view.
03	20110824	Written by Philip Connor. Abridged by Jane Marshall. Near the end of April, with the snow melted, the mule packers arrive with supplies and ask the fire lookout if he ever gets lonely or sad in his wilderness lookout but he's not about to confide the near mystical feelings he experiences to two guys in leather chaps and cowboy hats. Capturing the wonder and grandeur of this most unusual job and place, Fire Season evokes both the eerie pleasure of solitude and the majesty, might and beauty of untamed fire at its wildest. Connors' time on the peak is filled with drama - there are fires large and small; spectacular midnight lightning storms and silent mornings awakening above the clouds; surprise encounters with smokejumpers and black bears. Read by Kerry Shale Produced by Jane Marshall A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4. The mule packers arrive with the fire lookout's supplies and ask if he ever gets lonely.
04	20110825	Written by Philip Connor. Abridged by Jane Marshall. May is relentless with wind, the fire lookout's tower vibrates, guy wires scream and the distant hills are swallowed in dust. As he spots a cloud rise from the hills his eye is drawn to the contours but he decides the spiral is just dust, it's colour and movement don't jibe with smoke. He quits his post early and finds a spot of early evening peace by a mountain pond. Capturing the wonder and grandeur of this most unusual job and place, Fire Season evokes both the eerie pleasure of solitude and the majesty, might and beauty of untamed fire at its wildest. Connors' time on the peak is filled with drama - there are fires large and small; spectacular midnight lightning storms and silent mornings awakening above the clouds; surprise encounters with smokejumpers and black bears. Read by Kerry Shale Produced by Jane Marshall A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4. May is relentless with wind, the tower vibrates and dust spirals off the mountains.
05 LAST	20110826	Written by Philip Connor. Abridged by Jane Marshall. A new relief lookout appears on the mountain but the author is unsure that he has what it takes to cope alone in the wilderness. And some smokejumpers arrive to put out a fire, which reminds the author of the famous tragedy of the Mann Gulch fire which inspired Norman Maclean's famous book. Capturing the wonder and grandeur of this most unusual job and place, Fire Season evokes both the eerie pleasure of solitude and the majesty, might and beauty of untamed fire at its wildest. Connors' time on the peak is filled with drama - there are fires large and small; spectacular midnight lightning storms and silent mornings awakening above the clouds; surprise encounters with smokejumpers and black bears. Read by Kerry Shale Produced by Jane Marshall A Jane Marshall Production for BBC Radio 4. A new relief lookout appears on the mountain, but will he be able to cope alone?