Miss Montana flyover marks 70th anniversary of Mann Gulch tragedy #mtfires

Mann Gulch fire

Coordinates: 46.8796°N 111.9049°W


Investigators stand on the steep, now
barren, north slope of Mann Gulch.

The Mann Gulch fire was a wildfire reported on August 5, 1949 in a gulch located along the upper Missouri River in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness (then known as the Gates of the Mountains Wild Area), Helena National Forest, in the U.S. state of Montana. A team of 15 smokejumpers parachuted into the area on the afternoon of August 5, 1949 to fight the fire, rendezvousing with a former smokejumper who was employed as a fire guard at the nearby campground. As the team approached the fire to begin fighting it, unexpected high winds caused the fire to suddenly expand, cutting off the men's route and forcing them back uphill. During the next few minutes, a "blow-up" of the fire covered 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) in ten minutes, claiming the lives of 13 firefighters, including 12 of the smokejumpers. Only three of the smokejumpers survived. The fire would continue for five more days before being controlled.

The United States Forest Service drew lessons from the tragedy of the Mann Gulch fire by designing new training techniques and safety measures that developed how the agency approached wildfire suppression. The agency also increased emphasis on fire research and the science of fire behavior.

University of Chicago English professor and author Norman Maclean (1902–1990) researched the fire and its behavior for his book, Young Men and Fire (1992) which was published after his death. Maclean, who worked northwestern Montana in logging camps and for the forest service in his youth, recounted the events of the fire and ensuing tragedy and undertook a detailed investigation of the fire's causes. Young Men and Fire won the National Book Critics Circle Award for non-fiction in 1992. The 1952 film, Red Skies of Montana starring actor Richard Widmark and directed by Joseph M. Newman was loosely based on the events of the Mann Gulch fire.

The location of the Mann Gulch fire was included as a historical district on the United States National Register of Historic Places on May 19, 1999. A sign is placed near Mann Gulch to memorialize the tragedy, and can be seen from the waters of the nearby Missouri River.

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Airplane {old text}

The C-47/DC-3, registration number NC24320, was the only smokejumper plane available at Hale Field, near the current location of Sentinel High School, on August 5, 1949, when the call came in seeking 25 smokejumpers to fight a blaze in a hard-to-reach area of the Helena National Forest. The C-47/DC-3 could only hold 16 jumpers and their equipment. Even though more help was needed, fire bosses decided not to wait for a second plane, and instead sent No. NC24320 out on its own. NC24320 flew with Johnson Flying Service from Hale Field in Missoula, Montana and was used to drop Smokejumpers as well as for other operations for which Johnson Flying Service held contracts.

The C-47/DC-3 that carried the smokejumpers that day was later placed on exhibit in Missoula at the Museum of Mountain Flying. The aircraft was restored as a memorial to the Smokejumpers and the Fire Guard that lost their lives at Mann Gulch on August 5, 1949. It was made airworthy and flown to France in 2019 as part of the D-Day 75th anniversary commemorations with a flight to Normandy. On August 5th, 2019 The Miss Montana flew back over Mann Gulch on the 70th Anniversary of the fire and dropped wreaths for the 13 brave men lost.

Incident

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Casualties


Memorial photos, 13 victims



Memorial cross marking the spot where smokejumper Joseph B. Sylvia was fatally burned while fleeing the advancing wildfire—13 memorial markers are located on the steep hillside.

Thirteen firefighters died, with eleven killed in the fire itself and two who sustained fatal burns. Only three of the sixteen survived.

Smokejumpers

Those who were killed by the fire:

• Robert J. Bennett, age 22, from Paris, Tennessee
• Eldon E. Diettert, age 19, from Moscow, Idaho, died on his 19th birthday
• James O. Harrison, Helena National Forest Fire Guard, age 20, from Missoula, Montana
• William J. Hellman, age 24, from Kalispell, Montana
• Philip R. McVey, age 22, from Babb, Montana
• David R. Navon, age 28, from Modesto, California
• Leonard L. Piper, age 23, from Blairsville, Pennsylvania
• Stanley J. Reba, age 25, from Brooklyn, New York
• Marvin L. Sherman, age 21, from Missoula, Montana
• Joseph B. Sylvia, age 24, from Plymouth, Massachusetts
• Henry J. Thol Jr., age 19, from Kalispell, Montana
• Newton R. Thompson, age 23, from Alhambra, California
• Silas R. Thompson, age 21, from Charlotte, North Carolina

Those who survived:

• R. Wagner (Wag) Dodge, Missoula SJ foreman, age 33 at the time of the fire. Dodge died five years after the fire from Hodgkin lymphoma.
• Walter B. Rumsey, age 21 at time of the fire, from Larned, Kansas. Rumsey died in an airplane crash in 1980, age 52.
• Robert W. Sallee, youngest man on the crew, age 17 at time of the fire, from Willow Creek, Montana. Last survivor of the smokejumpers; he died May 26, • 2014, at age 82.

Additional individuals

Earl Cooley was the spotter/kicker (the airborne supervisor who directed the crew of smokejumpers who dropped in to fight the fire) the morning of the August 5, 1949 Mann Gulch fire jump. On July 12, 1940, as part of a two-man jump, Cooley had been the first smokejumper to jump on an operational fire jump. In the 1950s Cooley served as the smokejumper base superintendent and was the first president of the National Smokejumper Association. He died November 9, 2009, at age 98.

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Timeline

The events described above all transpired in a relatively short period of time. Studies estimated that the fire covered 3,000 acres in 10 minutes during this blow-up stage, an hour and 45 minutes after they had arrived.

• 4:10 PM: All crew jumped.
• 5:00 PM: The scattered cargo had been gathered.
• 5:45 PM: The crew had seen the fire coming up towards them on the south-facing slope north of the stream and had turned to run.
• 5:56 PM: The fire had swept over them. The time at which the fire engulfed the men was judged by the melted hands on Harrison's pocket-watch, forever frozen at 5:56 p.m. by the intense heat.

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