Except for the machine-cultivated fire that wasn't unsafe, but it was massive.

That was the toughest and most dangerous.īut! I think the wild-land firefighting here wasn't so bad. And I had enough training at that time to know to go full fog-say you got a stream going, then once this backdraft hits, you give it this screen of water to diffuse it. What's the gnarliest fire you faced? The structural fire. But back then, it was just about manifesting as much as you could fucking feel at any given moment. It wasn't one of those cliches where it's like, 'I'm not going to be here that long so let's do it all.' I'm happy to be here! I just love all that stuff! It manifests itself in different ways. This was concurrent with acting? Yeah, but they didn't know that. I went out to Phoenix where my buddy's brother-in-law was and did some ladder work. I did some wild-land firefighting in Mescal. Above all else, the producers strove to tell this story for these firefighters, to do right by them and to make the world aware of the men who lived everyday a hero.But to be clear, you weren't a hotshot? No. They conducted interviews with family members to grasp the personalities of each man and that character depth shines through in this movie about hope, sacrifice, determination, love and family. What struck me most about this film is the extent the producers went to to portray all 20 firefighters as authentically as possible. The perspective of the film shifts back and forth between these two men, one at the top and one scraping himself off the bottom. The fire chief, Eric Marsh, sees himself in Brendan McDonough, a struggling, recovering addict seeking employment.

It begins in a position most of us have been in at some point in our life, with a person who just needs a chance. Dubbed the Granite Mountain Hotshots, this team of close-knit firefighters rose to an elite status for their expert ability to tame out-of-control wildfires. Most people run away from danger but this is the true story of 20 men who made their living by racing towards it. Reviewed by Cassidy Hammel (Library Staff)

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