Fire Justice: Fighting a Timber Fire & the US Forest Service

The book is non-fiction. It is the story of one couple who built their dream home on 52 acres of land adjacent to the Nez Perce National Forest and Hells Canyon in 2000. It tells about their efforts to reduce the risk of wild fire through a Firewise USA® project and how that effort, though inadequate to save their timber, did save the home.

It is a narrative of the experience of a wife who escapes the fire and a husband who is trapped and presumed killed by the fire. It tells of how they learned of the Poe Cabin Fire (the top priority nationally for four days), fought it, and replanted in the ashes.

At the core of the story is an illegal takings suit against the United States. Readers follow this suit from its filing in March 2012 to settlement more than six years later in October 2018. The issues include how they selected attorneys to plead their case, how judges made their decisions, and how the plaintiffs did or did not work together to make decisions and fund court and experts’ costs.

It is a must read as a primer for anyone who lives at the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) describing the legal options and pitfalls of trying to recover property taken by the government for the benefit of society. It describes conflicts with other plaintiffs, experts, attorneys, and the court that were unexpected at the outset when deciding to sue the US Forest Service.

As one attorney asked Mr. Chapman, “Are you sure you want to file suit? Many landowners do not have the patience, financial resources, and emotional grit to engage in such a suit.” It is a must read for landowners and attorneys who have recently experienced an illegal taking or a federal tort and are trying to decide how to proceed against the government. It is a fun read for other readers because of the back stories describing the central characters and how they made decisions.