Peter m leschak biography of william

— Pernin's house was west of the Peshtigo River, and under normal conditions it was a five- or six-minute walk to the bridge and dam at the center of town. But as he struggled back to his feet, each breath was a gasp. The air was choked with dust, grit, ash, embers, and smoke.

It was difficult for the priest to keep his eyes open in the punishing blast, and, peering through slits, he tried to discern the edge of the road and stay on track. Several times his heaving chest filled not with air but noxious gas, and, unable to breathe, he instinctively threw himself down.

It's a sick sensation on the fireground, and no human reaction seems as quick and wrenching as panicky gulping for oxygen. Fortunately there's almost always a vestige of usable air on the deck, and whenever I've made that involuntary dive -- perhaps thrusting a sharp tool away from my torso -- I feel a spike of fear, even when I know the smoke will likely shift or lift in minutes or seconds. But when you can't breathe, nothing else matters. You'd probably flop onto a rattlesnake if your lungs were empty. The atmosphere at Peshtigo was also charged with sound, a discordant symphony of terror. Amid the steady thunder and howl of wind, he heard neighing horses, the crash of toppling trees and collapsing chimneys, and the dire

A combination of drought, logging practices, and a strong southwesterly wind created a firestorm that devastated the town of Peshtigo and burned around 1.5 million acres of land in early October, 1871. At the time, Peshtigo was a major western settlement with a strong sawmill and woodenware industry. However, on October 8, 1871, a fire suddenly bore down on the town, obliterating most of the buildings and killing somewhere between 500 and 800 people. The fire burned into the next day and was extinguished by rainstorms on October 10th. Most of what occurred in Peshtigo is known through the account of Rev. Pernin, a parish priest who published his account of the fire in 1874. The total fatalities from Peshtigo, surrounding communities, and isolated logging camps was between 1200 and 2500 people. It is largely regarded as the deadliest wildfire in American history but is historically overshadowed by the simultaneous Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The fires of 1871, from Peshtigo to the Great Chicago Fire to the Michigan wildfires, created general public awareness of the importance of responsible logging practices (such as not leaving piles of logs near train tracks where a spark from a passing locomotive might land) and the danger of all-wooden construction.

PERSONAL: Born May 11, 1951, in Chisholm, MN; son of Peter (a miner) and Agnes (in retail sales; maiden name, Pavelich) Leschak; married Pamela Cope (a writer), May 4, 1974. Ethnicity: "Russian/Croatian." Education: Attended College of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN, 1969-70; Ambassador College, B.A., 1974.

ADDRESSES: Home—Box 51, Side Lake, MN 55781. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Lumberjack in Roseburg, OR, 1973; printer in Baton Rouge, LA, 1974; water plant operator in Chisholm, MN, 1975-79; City of Hibbing, Hibbing, MN, operator of waste water plant, 1979-84; writer, 1984—. Fire chief of French, MN, volunteer fire department and wildland firefighter for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

MEMBER: Authors Guild, Minnesota Fire Chiefs Association, Minnesota Wildland Firefighters Association, Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness.

WRITINGS:

Letters from Side Lake: A Chronicle of Life in the North Woods, Harper (New York, NY), 1987.

The Bear Guardian: Northwoods Tales and Meditations, North Star Press (St. Cloud, MN), 1990.

Bumming with the Furies: Out on the Trail of Experience, North Star Press (St. Cloud, MN), 1993.

Seeing the Raven: A Narrative of Renewal, University of Minnesota Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1994.

Hellroaring, North Star Press (St. Cloud, MN), 1994.

The Snow Lotus: Exploring the Eternal Moment, University of Minnesota Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1996.

Rogues and Toads: A Poetry Collection, North Star Press (St. Cloud, MN), 1999.

Trials by Wildfire: In Search of the New Warrior Spirit, Pfeifer-Hamilton (Duluth, MN), 2000.

Ghosts of the Fireground: Echoes of the Great Peshtigo Fire and the Calling of a Wildland, Harper-SanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 2002.

Author of regular column in TWA Ambassador, 1985-86. Contributor to magazines. Contributing editor of Twin Cities, 1984-86, and Minnesota Monthly, 1984-89.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Deep Sky.

SIDELIGHTS: Pet