Smokejumper Reading List
My interest in smokejumping began with the research into the move of the Leecher Mountain steel lookout tower to the North Cascades Smokejumper Base (NCSB) to be used in the re-construction of a smokejumper training tower there. I first began studying the history of the NCSB. After being led on a guided tour of the NCSB by a smokejumper and visiting Bill Moody, a retired smokejumper and NCSB Base Manager, I became highly interested in smokejumper history, their training and the details of their use in forest and wildfire fighting. I began to read the many articles on the internet and read books about the history and life of smokejumpers. I put together the following reading list of those articles and books that I found to be most useful in my research. If you decide to use this list to learn more about smokejumpers: HAPPY BROWSING!
NCSB AND SMOKEJUMPING HISTORY:
Cohen, Stan. (1983). A Pictorial History of Smokejumping. Pictorial Histories Publishing Company.
Longley, Larry & Moody, Bill. (2007). Spittin’ in the Wind Book 1, History & Tales. National Smokejumpers Association.
Moody, William D. (2019). History of the North Cascades Smokejumper Base. National Smokejumpers Association.
Cooper, Fred & McMillan, Mike. (2022). Smokejumper Experiment. Spotfire Images Press.
Poyner, Fred. (2019). North Cascades Smokejumper Base (Winthrop). HistoryLink.org, Essay 20747.
ABOUT BILL MOODY:
Maynard, Kim ~ Interviewer. (1984). Bill Moody Interview, Smokejumpers 1984 Reunion Oral History Project, Oral History # 133-073,074. Mansfield Library, University of Montana.
Scruggs, Gregory. (2023, July 9). Retired North Cascades smokejumper reflects on parachuting into wildfires. Seattle Times.
McCreary, Ann. (2017, September 27). Moody stays aloft to help develop ‘SuperTanker’ for fighting big wildfires. Methow Valley News.
Steigmeyer, Rick. (2010, December 31). Twisp firefighter’s legend lengthens after helping Israeli effort. Wenatchee World.
Lodato, Ashley (2020, March 11). Lofty praise, Award cites Bill Moody’s long career as an aerial firefighter. Methow Valley News.
Seton, Mark. (2020, March 18). Aerial Firefighting Awards 2020 Winners. Asia Pacific Fire.
Breslin, Denny. (2020, April). North Cascades 2019 Reunion. Smokejumper (The National Smokejumper Association Quarterly Magazine.
SMOKEJUMPER TRAINING, EQUIPMENT AND QUALIFICATION:
—-. (2016). U. S. Forest Service National Smokejumper Training Guide 2016.
—-. (2018). Interagency Smokejumper Operations Guide, Forest Service Section (Revised February 2018).
There are a number of articles on the Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture website {https//www.fs.usda.gov}. These include:
Smokejumper qualifications.
Missoula Smokejumpers.
McCall Smokejumper Recruitment & Employment.
McCall Smokejumper Qualifications.
McCall Smokejumper Physical Requirements.
McCall Smokejumper Training.
Scruggs, Gregory. (2023, July 9). WA wildfire season is heating up but the smokejumpers are ready. Seattle Times.
Walsh, Laurelle. (2013, June 21). Training a constant priority at North Cascades Smokejumper Base. Methow Valley News.
Walsh, Laurelle. (2015, June 19). Jumping at the Chance. Methow Valley News.
— (2017, July 10). The smokejumper’s ultimate toolkit checklist. National Fire Fighter Wildland Corp.
—. Smokejumpers, 80 years of wildland firefighting. ArcGis Story Maps {https://storymaps.arcgis.com>stories}.
BOOKS BY SMOKEJUMPERS DESCRIBING JUMPING AND THE LIFE Of A SMOKEJUMPER:
(NOTE: These books all contain interesting stories about some of their jumps and firefighting. Some of the authors, being young and virile males, describe their parties and their marriage problems and one-night stands. If you are limited to one book, I recommend the one by Jason Ramos, which contains first hand descriptions of the training that he went through. If you have time to read a second book, I recommend the one by Murry A. Taylor.)
Ramos, Jason A. & Smith, Julian. (2015). Smokejumper. Harper Collins Publishers. [Available as a Kindle ebook.]
Taylor, Murry A. (2000). Jumping Fire, a Smokejumper’s Memoir of Fighting Wildfire. Harcourt Inc. [Available as a Kindle ebook.]
Jessup, Gene. (2020). Between Heaven and Earth the Adventures of a Smokejumper. Fulton Books Inc. [Available as a Kindle ebook.]
Ryan, Ralph. (2013). Wildfire Memories of a Wildland Firefighter. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. [Available as a Kindle ebook.]
Dow, Rod. (2015). Just a Few Jumper Stories. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. [Available as a Kindle ebook.]