The State of Fire - by Obi Kaufmann (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Los Angeles Times Bestseller

How do we live with fire? From the creator of The California Field Atlas, a book of stewardship, resilience, and hope.

Fire is an essential part of California's ecology. Humans have been using it to shape the California landscape for thousands of years. But today many Californians' relationship to fire is one of fear. Obi Kaufmann, author of the best-selling California Field Atlas, now asks: How do we live with fire? What makes fire essential to a healthy and biodiverse Golden State, and how do we benefit from its teachings? With the same solution-minded ethic as his much-admired The State of Water: Understanding California's Most Precious Resource, Kaufmann presents fire as a force of regeneration rather than apocalypse. He considers the long history of ecological burns, the varied ways fire behaves across the state, and the lessons we can learn from California's largest fires of recent decades.

Packed with Kaufmann's signature watercolor maps and paintings, The State of Fire confronts one of California's most pressing social and ecological challenges. From this maelstrom Kaufmann emerges to share a deepened love for the natural world--and a refreshingly hopeful vision of California's future.

Review Quotes

Los Angeles Times Bestseller

Los Angeles Daily News Noteworthy Book of 2024

2025 California Indie Bookstore Bestseller

L.A. Taco Best Book of 2024

"Expansive and thoughtful, The State of Fire is a meditation that offers a road map from which to reconsider California's relationship to fire through an intimate exploration of the state's many intricacies. Working within the confines of existing lands and ownership, Kaufmann's writing and illustrations comprise a deeply researched philosophical exploration focused not just on the current moment but on refashioning understanding and California's ecosystems to support thriving generations to come." --High Country News

"Like a lot of Californians, fire has become a fairly obsessive interest. Add Kaufmann's inimitable watercolor illustrations and I can't wait to get my hands on this manual of the natural world and California history. Pair with writer Manjula Martin's 2024 memoir, The Last Fire Season, for a visceral-plus-visual understanding of what it is to love the natural world and to live alongside fire, itself an essential part of that world." --Bridget Quinn, Hyperallergic

"This is a book to return to again and again, and I can see how each time, readers will get something new from the text, as well as from the maps and notes nestled throughout. And as fire becomes more and more recognized as a part of California's ecosystems, Kaufmann's book may be a valuable guide for the future." --Jaime Herndon, Earth Island Journal

"Through mapping fire habitats, [Kaufmann] points the way toward a more harmonious relationship with fire by sharing a vision that combines traditional ecological knowledge, scientific innovation and land management. The verisimilitude of his work is what you'd expect from someone whose astrophysicist father was the Director of the Griffith Observatory in the early 1970s." --PBS SoCal

"Fire is a fact of California and Obi Kaufmann explains why in this book [...] There may not be a man anywhere in this country who combines art and science as well as he does. [...] Whether explaining the fire return index or painting a detailed map of fires in the northeast Cascade Range, Kaufmann shows us how we can benefit from fire teaching if we pay closer attention." --Mike Sonksen, L.A. Taco

"Obi Kaufmann's illustrated atlases on the natural history of California have all been bestsellers but none have felt as urgent as his new book, The State of Fire: Why California Burns. Fires in the state are growing larger and deadlier and Kaufmann delves into the history, science, and future of fire ecology to explain why. His analysis is accompanied, as usual, by his gorgeous, evocative illustrations." --Frances Dinkelspiel, Piedmont Exedra

"The State of Fire: Why California Burns looks at the wildfire problem and how fire is a regenerative force. It is Kaufmann's latest entry in a collection of impressive works about the state's environment." --Diablo Magazine

"The State of Fire: Why California Burns offers the reader a glimpse into one of California's most pressing social and ecological challenges. Kaufmann is brilliant, articulate and engaging, providing hope for the state's future." --Tahoe Literary Guide

"Atmospheric, hand-rendered watercolor ink maps and vignetted artwork enliven most pages. Every element contributes to the book's narrative arc that includes the early knowledge of indigenous populations about land and fire through 18th century human attempts at domination--resulting in devastating destruction--to a surprisingly hopeful and healing place. Throughout, a call for informed land stewardship is less a guilt-inducing taskmaster than it is an oracle calling attention to fire as a prophetic gift." --East Bay Times

"Kaufmann traces the history of fire back billions of years and points to indigenous tribes and plant life as exemplars of how to live in better harmony with nature. He posits that rapid response teams alone can't solve this--and may unwittingly be part of the problem." --Nob Hill Gazette

About the Author

Obi Kaufmann is the author of The California Field Atlas (2017, #1 San Francisco Chronicle Best Seller), The State of Water (2019), The Forests of California (2020), The Coasts of California (2022), and The Deserts of California (2023), all published by Heyday. When he is not backpacking, you can find the painter-poet at home in the East Bay, posting trail paintings at his handle @coyotethunder on Instagram. His speaking tour dates are available at californiafieldatlas.com, and his essays are posted at coyoteandthunder.com. He lives in Oakland, CA.