DG Outtake #1: 'Fire of Love'

I've referenced the Kraffts and Sarah Dosa's 'Fire of Love' several times before on this blog.

This is one of a series of blog posts linked to the research I did for the 'Discover Geography' series, and mentioning some of the reading I did to prepare some of the chapters.

Not all of this material made it into the final book so I'm sharing it in these posts.

When I first started teaching, the work of the Kraffts was one of the few sources of close-up imagery of volcanic eruptions.

Check out this journal article on the Kraffts.

It includes a small and powerful detail about their deaths on Mount Unzen by a pyroclastic flow in 1991.

Marks on the Earth indicate that they were next to each other, and two items were found: a camera and a watch, with its hands frozen at 4:18pm.

The trailer for the film is here:

In the book, I talk about the Krafft's simple classification of volcanoes into grey and red.

Those who don't know too much will see lava and think that is the most dangerous threat from eruptions as it fountains or moves down slopes dramatically. However, it is the pyrocastic flows and other threats from the 'grey' volcanoes which make them far more dangerous.

As this review of the film says:

This is science as spectacle, as choreography. With their rivers of flaming orange lava, the so-called ‘red’ volcanoes are more photogenic than the ‘grey’ ones. But the latter are far deadlier, emitting plumes of asphyxiating dust and toxic gas. The volcanic association with death is inevitable; we know the ability of lava and ash to kill, to freeze-frame life in places such as Pompeii, and we’re told at the start of the film that the Kraffts will pay for their obsession with their lives.

And as this Substack explains:

The Kraffts’ lose a friend and fellow volcanologist, David Johnson, in the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helen in Washington. Following this death, they begin further research on this type of volcano in an effort to predict such eruptions and save lives. But five years later, despite warnings from volcanological organizations, the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz caused mudflows and landslides that claimed up to 25,000 lives. In the film we see the Kraffts reckon with a grim reality: The very thing they love can cause mass destruction.

'Fire of Love' can be viewed on several streaming services with a fee for watching and is available to purchase on physical media.

Also check out Werner Herzog's 'The Fire Within'