Folk Songs About Fires and Firefighters

“On the Other Side” by Janis Ian from God and the FBI
“What Made America Famous” by Harry Chapin from Verities and Balderdash 

from Kerry Grombacher:

Here are four songs that pay tribute to the men and
women who risk their lives battling wildland fires and
that honor the memories of those who have died in the
fight.

Charlie Maguire: "The Hinkley Fire" HARBOUR
LIGHTS/Train on the Island

James Keelaghan: "Cold Missouri Waters" A RECENT
FUTURE/Green Linnet (the story of the 1949 Mann Gulch
fire in Western Montana, in which 13 firefighters lost
their lives)

Tom May: "Trial by Fire" VESTED/Blue Vignette (images
drawn from friends' experiences, from the Mann Gulch
fire, and from the 1994 Storm King Mountain fire near
Glenwood Springs CO in which 14 "hotshots" from
Prineville OR died)

Kerry Grombacher: "Along the John Day River" SANDS
MOTEL/self (a song based on my own experiences
fighting forest fires in the Malheur National Forest
in eastern OR)

Additional song suggestions? Send email