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Smith, Dennis. San Francisco is burning; the untold story of the 1906 earthquake and fires.


SMITH, Dennis. San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden  is burning; the untold story of the 1906 earthquake and fires. Read by Alan Sklar. 10 cds. 12.5 hrs. Tantor Media. 2005. 1-4001-0179-4. $34.99. Vinyl; content, author, reader notes. SA

In the early morning of April 18, 1906, a ferocious earthquake, 8.0 on the Richter scale Richter scale (rĭk`tər), measure of the magnitude of seismic waves from an earthquake, devised in 1935 by the American seismologist Charles F. Richter (1900–1985). , shook San Francisco for 45 seconds. Buildings collapsed and hundreds of people were killed, including, most tragically, Dennis Sullivan Dennis Parnel Sullivan (born 1941, Port Huron, Michigan) is an American mathematician. He is known for work in topology, both algebraic and geometric, and on dynamical systems. , the highly regarded Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department The San Francisco Fire Department provides fire and emergency services to the City and County of San Francisco, California.

The SFFD serves an estimated population of 1.2 million people (which includes the approximately 740,000 citizens residing in the 47.
. Sullivan's death led to an enormous leadership vacuum that in the ensuing three days resulted in over 500 city blocks burning to the ground and over 3000 additional deaths. Without Chief Sullivan, the people in charge of containing the blazes had no idea what they were doing and made many costly mistakes. Smith describes many stories of individual people, describing both what they did during the fire and how their subsequent lives played out. He also evaluates whether San Francisco would be more prepared today should such an earthquake strike again.

Despite an enormous increase in population, buildings and skyscrapers since 1906, San Francisco today has fewer fire stations than it had then. And Smith fears that should another comparable earthquake hit San Francisco, which experts predict has a 60% chance of happening in the next 30 years, the Years, The

the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109]

See : Time
 city would be no more prepared than New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded  was for Hurricane Katrina. Sklar's reading is clear and highly professional. Susan Offner, Teacher, Lexington HS, Lexington, MA

S--Recommend for senior high school students.

A--Recommend for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.
COPYRIGHT 2006 Kliatt
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2006, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Author:Offner, Susan
Publication:Kliatt
Date:Nov 1, 2006
Words:288
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