Part Two Summary and Analysis

Maclean starts Part Two by saying that the entire Mann Gulch fire took place in a blur of time and bewilderment. There would never be a complete knowledge of what happened atop what Maclean refers to as "a nearly inaccessible hill." Maclean also talks about being torn between the public outrage and sense of deep mourning shared with the families of those who were lost in the fire.

The public outcry that followed was extreme and the Forest Service knew it would have a lot to answer for in the way the disaster was handled. Leading the pack was Henry Thol, Sr., father of the youngest Smokejumper and retired forest ranger. Thol, Sr., was from the "old school" and was extremely vocal about what went wrong. The grief-stricken father paced through Mann Gulch, studied and analyzed the scene. Eventually...