Inside the Flames: The Untold Story of a Hotshot’s Fierce Battle for Survival
But regardless of who wields fire or how it initially sparked, Selby makes clear that it is the ultimate symbol of our desire for control: of ourselves, our bodies, our surroundings, and our futures. But just like the white settlers of centuries past, controlled burns can only cleanse so much. The land and its inhabitants — particularly Selby — still suffer when well-intentioned plans go astray.
Selby was one of a handful of women to serve as a hotshot firefighter in the early 2000s, and as a result they were subjected to intense sexism, misogyny, and harassment from many of their colleagues. Their experience of being a hotshot firefighter was extreme and dramatic on its own, but being a female hotshot specifically was territory far more treacherous than anything Selby could have trained for. Over the course of the book, Selby serves on multiple hotshot teams, some of which provided healing and cleansing, but just as often created new physical and emotional wounds that lasted long after they left the profession.
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