69 years ago today: the Mann Gulch Fire

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69

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The University of Chicago professor, Norman McClean, who wrote the book about the fire, is better known for writing the book "A River Runs Through It" which was about his early life and fly fishing in Montana.

Got to watch out for that wind shift. A wind shift took out the Granite Mountain Hotshots during the Yarnell Fire.

I've always wanted to go out west and join a fire crew, but that job is so unpredictable.

You have to be young, single, and basically homeless, or have a job that gives you lots of time off. Lots of teachers and carpenters. The only full time employees are the supervisors and there aren't many of them. Heavy equipment operators have it a little better, and of course aircrews are a different category altogether.

There's also been a move toward using private contractors.

Just curious how do you fight a fire in 1949 in the middle of the Montana wilderness.
Did they run water hoses down to the river and pump water up that way?
Or did they just plan to cut down enough timber to prevent it from continuing to spread?

The same way they do now, hand tools to dig firelines. They have chainsaws instead of crosscut saws, better communication, better understanding of the physics of fire, and of course a lot more aerial support. But the guys (and a few girls) on the ground are doing pretty much the same thing they always did. Clearing brush by hand, and setting backfires. Sometimes a road is nearby so they can bring in firetrucks and bulldozers. Usually not. Putting water on a forest fire is usually impractical except by air.

And as we saw in Gatlinburg, wildfires are not only a western thing. The last time I went backpacking in Arkansas, the guy who dropped us off at the trailhead pointed out a fire a few miles away and mentioned we "might want to keep an eye on it." Unstated was what we might do if it came our way. I guess find a creek and submerge ourselves.