A new book based on the Mann Gulch tragedy, which killed 13 firefighters in 1949, explores the lives of the men who died in the inferno.

“A Great Day to Fight Fire” author Mark Matthews acknowledged it was difficult to write about Mann Gulch after the classic “Young Men and Fire” by renowned writer Norman Maclean, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award after its publication in 1992 and was lauded by the New York Times as “a magnificent drama of writing, a tragedy that pays tribute to the dead and offers rescue to the living.”

But Matthews said the Maclean book didn’t delve into the personal lives of the victims and after reading that book he was left wondering about the 12 smokejumpers and one ranger who died in the Missouri River drainage 40 miles north of Helena.

“I was a little disappointed because of that gap,” Matthews said in a telephone interview from his Missoula residence. “I wanted to know about the men. I was working on a fire crew when I read the book, and felt the relationship with the firefighters.”

Then, during a commemoration in Mann Gulch in 1999 of the 50th anniversary of the fateful flight, Matthews came upon a group of teachers from Helena High School. In their conversation, he learned of a 1998 school project in which students contacted the victims’ family members and further researched their lives to learn more about the men. The families hadn’t assisted Maclean when he wrote his book.

“Those students and their research was the driving force,” Matthews said. “I jokingly said somebody should write another book about Mann Gulch, and they said ‘Why don’t you?’ So I’ve tried to bring those men back to life, so to speak.”

Thus began “A Great Day to Fight Fire.” But once completed, Maclean’s ghost came back to haunt Matthew.

“I sent a manuscript to a literary agent back in 2000, and it happened to be the same house that published (Maclean’s son) John Maclean’s books,” Matthews said. “They said it was a good book and interesting, but who would want to read yours after Maclean’s?”

So Matthews tucked the manuscript under his bed, where it stayed for five years as he wrote a second novel, “Smoke Jumping on the Western Fire Line: Conscientious Objectors during World War II,” which was published by the University of Oklahoma Press. He mentioned the previous manuscript to his agent, and “A Great Day” was accepted.

In his new novel, Matthews attempts to recreate dialogue and scenes of what the firefighters were thinking as they parachuted into Mann Gulch on that fateful day, as well as the impacts of the incident on their families. He drew not only from the Helena High School students’ research, but also from interviews with three of the survivors and the victims’ family members, as well as a transcript of an inquiry into the deaths.

He said it’s garnered good reviews from people who have read the book, including the surviving family members and people on the rescue team.

Matthews will be in Helena Saturday to discuss both of his books, and offer insights into the tragedy that still draws people to Mann Gulch today.

“I realized that between the two books I have the history of the first decade of smokejumping,” Matthews said. “The first half of the lecture will explain how smokejumping developed … and Mann Gulch defines how the Forest Service stopped to take a look at safety issues for smokejumpers.”

Reporter Eve Byron: 447-4076 or eve.byron@helenair.com