FBB Chapter 1 Consorti

The first person story jumps from that of childhood memories to accounts of a nuclear bomb factory in Rocky Flats. Much of the town nearby is in the dark about what exactly happens in the plant, and even most of the workers have little idea what exactly goes on. The dedication of the firefighters really struck me, in particular the scene where the two return to work even after they are heavily radiated. Maybe the effects were less understood then, and contributed to their feats, but I would not have been anywhere near that factory in the event of a fire. over the course of 10 years, two fires happened that released a lot of plutonium into the atmosphere and the government did nothing to warn people of it, instead urged them to remain where they are. Again I hope this is attributed to the lack of understanding about plutonium, but the dangers are highlighted when a childhood friend of the narrator dies of cancer. Her ashes have traces of plutonium in them. This was interesting to me because it seemed to be the first point of the reading where the childhood was related with the factory. Most of the time it was mentioned in passing, but the first connection was the death of a child. I wonder if the rest of it will relate, the horse, the alcoholism, the house fire, and the absence of the father, to the problems of the plant.