Fire

Pg.51 "The living dead have no fear of fire. Waving an open flame in a ghoul's face will do nothing to slow or impede its advance. Zombies who have caught fire will neither notice nor react to the engulfing flames in any way. Too many humans have met with tragedy for failing to understand that fire is no deterrent to zombies! As a weapon, however, fire is still humanity's greatest ally. Complete incineration is the best way to destroy a zombie once and for all. Burning eliminates not only the body but all traces of Solanum. However, don't think a flamethrower and several Molotov cocktails are the solution to all your problems. In actual combat, fire can be as deadly a threat as it is a protector. Flesh-human, undead, or otherwise-takes a long time to burn. In the minutes or hours before a blazing zombie succumbs, it will become a walking-or to be perfectly accurate, a shambling-torch. Several
cases have been recorded in which burning ghouls have done more damage, even caused more deaths, than they would have with only their fingernails and teeth. Fire itself has no loyalty. Consider the flammable nature of your surroundings, the chance of smoke inhalation, the possibility that a blaze will act as a beacon for other zombies. All these factors must be considered before such a powerful and unpredictable weapon is unleashed. For this reason, fire is mainly considered an attack or flight weapon, and rarely used for static defense."

 Max Brooks provides a piece of wisdom here that is very useful. Not only is it useful for any zombie invasions, but also any kind of problem that one would solve with fire. Fire is a wild card in the sense that no one can control it. It's strange and unpredictable ways make it a last resort in case of an emergency.
Max Brooks once again, uses imagery as a strong vehicle for his message. His descriptions of burning ghouls and the effects of it are very spot on. The author must have pondered for much time on what to write about in this book, since everything is so precise and well described. The imagery helps us to imagine what could happen in a world like this one, and it also helps the audience connect the author since we can visualize what he's writing.