Ponderosa Pines: Days of the Deadwood Forest Fire

By: Annette Gagliardi
Publisher: Pocahantas Press
Publication Date: September 17, 2022
ISBN: 978-1955338073
Reviewed by: Diana Coyle
Review Date: May 9, 2025

It started out as a normal day in 1959 for the citizens of Deadwood, South Dakota in Ponderosa Pines: Days of the Deadwood Forest Fire by Annette Gagliardi. The residents went to work and it was the first day of school for the children. But things took a drastic turn for all of them when they discovered that a forest fire had broken out and evacuations were starting. People left work early, school dismissed the children to get home as soon as possible, and emergency workers, both paid and volunteer, were deployed to different sections to start tackling this blaze. Although the fire only lasted a few days, it resulted in utter devastation to Deadwood and the surrounding areas.

The first thing that stood out about this story was it was written by Annette, the second eldest daughter to Bill and Anne. The book read like a narration coming directly from Annette’s personal account of what happened to her family and the towns surrounding Deadwood. It gave it such a personal feeling while turning the pages, and it enhanced seeing the story unfold through her eyes from start to finish.

Right from the beginning, the sense of urgency and panic was extremely present. You felt what Annette and her family went through from the first emergency message reaching everyone, to the final message that the fire was finally under control days later. Since Annette came from an extremely large family that included not only her parents and her and seven siblings, but also the additional extended family members, including her aunt and uncle and their five children, this made for a story that was different than any other historical retelling out there.

As readers turn the pages, they will feel the mixed emotions immediately from not only Annette’s main point of view, but of all her family members. Most of the children were under 12 years old, so you can hear and feel their panic and uncertainty of what was going to happen. You can easily step into any one of the characters’ footsteps, and feel what they were feeling. The sense of losing everything they worked hard for was predominant throughout. One can only imagine how scared everyone was that one day they have a roof over their heads, and the next they were worrying that all 17 of them could very well be homeless if the forest fire wasn’t contained quickly enough.

Quill says: Readers will become fully immersed in Ponderosa Pines: Days of the Deadwood Forest Fire by Annette Gagliardi, making it easy to develop feelings for all the characters that played a role throughout this story. Well done, Ms. Gagliardi!

For more information about Ponderosa Pines: Days of the Deadwood Forest Fire, please visit the author's website at: annette-gagliardi.com