On September 1, 1894 a great cyclone of fire swept throught he pineries of Minnesota, roughly halfway between Duluth-Superior and Minneapolis-St. Paul. The first reports of the disaster that reached the outside world spawned sensational banner headlines. The New York Times reported: "HUNDREDS PERISH IN FOREST FIRES: Western Towns Destroyed and Citizens Burned to Death in Their Crumbling Homes. TERRIBLE SCENES OF SUFFERING AT HINCKLEY. The Minnesota Town Completely Wiped Out by the Flames, and Many of Its Inhabitants Perish - One Hundred and Forty-three Bodies Already Recovered, and More in the Ruins - Other Towns Swept Up by the Fire - The List of Dead Will Probably Reach Five Hundred." The Minnesota Forest Fire of 1894 was one of the great natural calamities in American history.

This huge fire storm, miles wide and high, advanced rapidly on Hinckley. It threw fireballs, embers, and objects thousands of feet ahead, causing whirlwinds and tornadoes of fire. The unleashed fury contained the force of several Hiroshima-size atomic bombs. It reminded survivors of a great black cloud stretching to the heavens. The "fire demon" roared through Hinckley in midafternoon, destroying the town in less than half an hour. Raging on unabated, the great conflagration swept through nearby Sandstone, before stopping in marshes and cutover along the Wisconsin border. Over 900 square miles of prime timberland lay in ashes.

The fire came and went within the space of a few hours. It was a ghastly climax to a summer that featured a combination of high temperatures, poor rainfall, and low humidity. Throughout the fire season, hundreds of small blazes smoldered and flared in the woodlands. Minnesota had no conservation laws, and lumber companies routinely left slashings on the forest floor.

Hundreds of the estimated 3,500 people in the fire district died. Many bodies were burned beyond recognition. Only ashes remained of others. People who escaped did so in a variety of ways. Some flung themselves into wells or streams. Others lay flat on open ground, in a gravel pit, or in swamps. Over a thousand rode trains through the flames to safety. A United Press reporter wrote, "It appears that it was a clean-cut case of either life or death." Some of the persons who jumped into wells either suffocated or were boiled alive. Others, who did the same thing close by, experienced only slight discomfort. Near Hinckley, a farmer lay in a field until the air cooled. He stood up to find everything within twelve feet around him burned to a crisp. There was just no telling what the "fire demon" would do as he went about his grim work of destruction.

Wall of Flames tells the story of the Minnesota Forest Fire in human terms. The book shows the impact of the catastrophe on victims, survivors, rescuers, and policy makers. The fire led to the passage of Minnesota's first conservation legislation. Yet, in a very real sense the initial human reaction transcended legalities. In the face of a terrible disaster, a triumph of the spirit occurred in Minnesota on September 1, 1894.