In the exhilarating spirit of Wild and A Walk in the Park, WILDFIRE DAYS is an adventure-filled memoir of a woman’s struggle to succeed as a wildland firefighter on an elite, male-dominated crew as they battle some of the fiercest wildfires in the West.

Available in hardcover, eBook, and unabridged audiobook. Use the link above or look for WILDFIRE DAYS at your favorite independent bookstore. If money is an issue, ask your local library to order some copies!

Publisher: Scribner (Simon & Schuster)

Release date: June 17, 2025.

“Kelly Ramsey is that combination of a badass and a great writer that we all strive for.”

—Sebastian Junger, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Tribe

“A frank, funny, fast-paced, and heartfelt portrait of the grueling work of wildland firefighting, and a deeply moving account of what it means to love someone consumed by the flames of addiction without being sucked into the fire yourself.”

—Ash Davidson, author of Damnation Spring

“Nobody has captured the violent dualities of wildfire quite like Kelly Ramsey has in Wildfire Days. I was left in awe.”

—Amanda Monthei, former wildland firefighter and host of Life with Fire podcast

About Kelly

Kelly Ramsey was born in Frankfort, Kentucky. She earned a bachelor’s in literature with a concentration in poetry writing at the University of Virginia and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Pittsburgh. She co-founded The Lighthouse Works, an artists’ residency program on Fishers Island, New York, and later moved to Northern California, where she worked for the U.S. Forest Service as a trail maintenance worker, wilderness ranger, and wildland firefighter on a hotshot crew. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Sierra, Electric Literature, Hobart, Catapult, the San Francisco Chonicle, and the anthology Letter to a Stranger. She has received support from MacDowell, South East Arts, and the American Wildfire Experience. She lives in Redding, California, with her partner, their daughter, and their dog, Rookie.

Photo by Lindsey Shea