Blue View – Wildfires and Heroes

The aftermath of the great fire of 1910

The town of Wallace after the fire

The Great Fire of 1910

While we were riding the Wallace portion of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes and exploring that part of the Idaho panhandle area, we learned of the worst wildfire in American history, the great fire of 1910. During that summer, the northwest was experiencing a record drought, and dozens of wildfires were burning throughout Idaho and Montana. Witnesses said the sky was filled with smoke and ash, and the sun was only a crimson disk. Several hundred firefighters were working 24 hours a day throughout the mountains, trying to control the blazes. On August 20, the winds, which had been building for days, increased to hurricane force. They were so strong that the flames and sparks blasted through the forest, totally overwhelming the firebreaks being built by the firefighters, in what was called ‘The Big Blowup’. The numerous smaller fires combined into a firestorm of unprecedented size and fury. Smoke and ash from the maelstrom blew across the Rockies, darkening the skies over the great plains and dropping cinders on Denver and Chicago.

The fire killed 87 people, mostly firefighters, destroyed numerous structures, buildings and homes, including several entire towns, and burned more than three million acres of forest. It was the largest wildfire in U.S. history. The burned area was approximately the size of the state of Connecticut.

In my estimation, all those firefighters and smoke jumpers who put their own lives at risk trying to save the property and lives of others are heroes. During the wildfire of 1910, however, there were two men who were particularly heroic.

Edward Pulaski.

Edward Pulaski was a young forest ranger in 1910. When the wildfires broke out, he was assigned by his supervisor to oversee the firefighters in several camps. Many were new volunteers from nearby towns and were inexperienced at fighting fires. It was his job to get them organized and show them where and how to douse the fires and create firebreaks. The evening before the big blowup, Ed returned to the nearby town of Wallace for supplies. He held out little hope that his firefighters could stop the fires from destroying the town. He told his wife and daughter to save themselves, said goodbye, then returned to the camps knowing he might never return.

When the blowup occurred, he realized that he, as well as all the other men, were cut off… there was no way out. He did know of an abandoned mineshaft, however, that could possibly save their lives if they could get to it. He found a total of 45 men and shouting over the roar of the fire, finally got them to understand that they needed to collect blankets and water and follow him. Trees were burning and falling around them and the air was so thick with smoke they were nearly blind, but still they raced through the forest towards the mineshaft. They made it just ahead of the flames, and Ed ordered the men to lie down as the mine filled up with smoke and ‘fire gas’. When the timbers supporting the mine shaft started burning, he used his hat to collect water from puddles in the mine to try to douse the fires. It was the next morning before it was safe to leave the mine. All their water was gone, they were weak from exhaustion and smoke inhalation, and it was a difficult trek through the smoldering trees and brush to get back down the mountain, but they made it. Of the 45 men Ed started with, all but 6 lived. One was killed by a falling tree as they ran for the mine, and five others perished in the mine.

Edward Pulaski’s description of the trek back to Wallace

Johnnie Mackedon.

Train engineer, Johnnie Mackedon, found himself trying to get his engine out of harms way on the evening of August 20. There were fires all around and he was aware of the big blowup that was turning the valley into an inferno. As he drew near the tiny town of Falcon, he saw that the siding was on fire and more than 100 men, women and children stood terrified on the platform of the smoldering platform. He immediately stopped, backed into a siding and hooked onto a flatcar. Then he pulled alongside the platform and waited while everyone jumped aboard. Johnnie thought there was a good chance they could survive if they could make it to the next big tunnel, Tunnel 27, but they would have to cross a big trestle to get there. As they approached the trestle, he saw it was on fire. In his words, “All you could see of a bridge was a wall of flame, but we crossed it. I hooked her up, threw her wide open, then we lay down on the deck to protect ourselves from the heat. We expected that every moment would be our last on earth.” This sounds like it came right out of an action movie. I envision Johnnie being played by Harrison Ford in an Indiana Jones movie. They made it safely to the tunnel and everyone survived.

Today

The Great Fire of 1910 was the largest wildfire in U.S. history... until this week. The combined area burned by the 102 active fires as of yesterday, 9/11, reached 4.2 million acres. How ironic that it reached this number on the anniversary of such a painful event in our history.

The view from Las Vegas today

Here in Las Vegas, the air is thick with smoke and haze, and the deck and our cars are covered in black ash. This morning, just as in 1910 in Idaho, “the sun was only a crimson disk”. But this is nothing compared with what the people of the other western states are going through. And, just as in 1910, there are no shortage of heroes… from the firefighters to the first-responders to the amazing helicopter pilots who rescued the hundreds of campers who were surrounded by flames.