Kurt Kamm Red Flag Warning Interview

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FDNNTV.com's Brie Tennis recently had the opportunity to sit down with award-winning author Kurt Kamm, whose new book Red Flag Warning: A Serial Arson Mystery has been met with acclaim in the firefighting community.  This book is Kamm's second firefighting novel, following the success of his first release, One Foot in the Black, and has earned Kamm two prestigious writing awards.

Red Flag Warning is the story of a serial arsonist rooming through the hills of Los Angeles County setting devastating fires and the members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department who are working to track him down.  Although it is a fictional novel, Kurt Kamm's extensive work with both the Los Angeles County Fire Department and CAL FIRE make the story true-to-life, bringing readers a personal, up-close look at the realities that face wildland firefighters and arson investigators.

Below is the transcript of Brie's interview with Kurt Kamm, in which he reveals the inspiration behind his firefighting novels and some of the research he has done to make them realistic.  Kamm also gives a sneak peek into his next book, another firefighting thriller.

Brie Tennis:  So we find ourselves back at the beach, back in this beautiful setting - the ocean, the beautiful breeze, all of this sunshine, and we're talking about another topic for a book that you've written, and well your inspiration really evades you, doesn't it?

Kurt Kamm:  My inspiration comes from the fact that Malibu has had, since you last interviewed me, a couple of really fierce fires, and they were termed "arson".  They were really campfires that college students let get out of control.  I wanted to write about arson and I thought what better place than where I live where everything burns.

Brie Tennis:  And we talk about arson, which is certainly every firefighter's nightmare - a serial arsonist - someone who repeatedly sets fires and methodically goes out and does this. So to write this book you had to do some pretty creepy research because we assume that you're not an arsonist.

Kurt Kamm:  Well, I guess I'm not! Maybe I'm the next best thing! I spent some time with CAL FIRE, and first of all I'd say that wildland arson is so much different than regular arson in the city, which goes on for insurance purposes or revenge or whatever. Wildland arson generally involves people driving aimlessly around throwing matches out of their car, and we've had some really bad ones.  And the thought of a serial arsonist running around in LA County, where we have these huge brush fires and 3% humidity is a very spooky idea.  CAL FIRE takes arson prevention very seriously, as does LA County and LA City, but CAL FIRE has a dedicated group of law enforcement officers that investigate possible arsonists. I was fortunate to attend one of their week-long training sessions, and it was fascinating.  It was really interesting.

Brie Tennis:  You have interesting characters in the book, too.

Kurt Kamm:  That's my favorite activity - creating characters. 

Brie Tennis:  Well I did a little sleuthing of my own, and your book has been out for several months now, and on Amazon.com, where you can also purchase this book, there's some amazing reviews you have.  For example, 'A great read. Highly memorable characters. Kamm must have been a firefighter.'  Another review - 'At some parts I couldn't tell if the book was non-fiction or fiction.'  That's pretty amazing.

Kurt Kamm:  You know, I love it because mostly it comes from firefighters or their wives or families, and I consider them my most critical audience because if they like it then everyone else will love it.  This is something they are exposed to, and if there is anything wrong with it factually they'll be letting me know right away.

Brie Tennis:  Now in this day and age, we have to wear many hats, business-wise that is, so we tend to jump from career to career, but your background is in Wall Street.  How did you make the jump from Wall Street to writing firefighter novels.  Did you chose the wrong career?

Kurt Kamm:  No, the jump was easy.  I moved to Malibu, my house almost burned down, and when the fire department saved my house, I decided I better find out a little bit about what they were doing.  But I love writing, and I love writing fire things because I meet a whole new group of people. LA County Fire Department has been great.  They've taken me places and let me sit in on things and let me do stuff that works in my books, and it's fascinating.  It's a great departure from Wall Street.

Brie Tennis:  So what's next?

Kurt Kamm:  Well, we are working on Code Blood, which is a fire/paramedic searching for a severed foot that's lost in an accident, and it's the story about his search and the weird and strange characters who get involved with him, all of whom are obsessed with blood in one way or another.

Brie Tennis:  And that comes out...?

Kurt Kamm:  Oh my guess is that we are twelve months away.  We'll be sitting here in twelve months I hope.

Both Red Flag Warning and One Foot in the Black are available on Amazon.com and  on Kurt Kamm's Website.

Contributors to this story:
Brie Tennis - Video Report
Joseph Cusick - Camera/Editor

Related Video:
Interview with Kurt Kamm - One Foot in the Black



Author:Brie Tennis - FDNNTV.com