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Coordinates: 46°52′47″N 111°54′18″W / 46.8796°N 111.9049°W / 46.8796; -111.9049
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{{Infobox NRHP
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Mann Gulch Wildfire Historic District
| name = Mann Gulch Wildfire Historic District
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}}
}}


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|state]] of [[Montana]] in the [[United States]]. A team of 15 US Forest Service [[smokejumper]]s parachuted into the area on the afternoon of August 5, 1949 to fight a 50-60 acre (20-24 hectare) lightning caused blaze, assisted by a local recreation guard. As the team approached the fire, an unexpected change in wind direction caused the fire to ignite heavy fuels, creating a "blowup" and cutting off the men's escape route to the Missouri River. The crew was forced to retreat uphill into a lightly timbered area with a dense groundcover of extremely flammable grass and brush. The fire moved rapidly up the slope, burning {{convert|3000|acres}} in ten minutes and 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 '''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|state]] of [[Montana]] in the [[United States]]. A team of 15 [[smokejumper]]s 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 {{convert|3000|acres}} 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 science|fire research and the science of fire behavior]].
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 science|fire research and the science of fire behavior]].
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The location of the Mann Gulch fire was included as a [[Historic districts in the United States|historical district]] on the [[United States National Register of Historic Places]] on May 19, 1999.<ref name="NRIS" />
The location of the Mann Gulch fire was included as a [[Historic districts in the United States|historical district]] on the [[United States National Register of Historic Places]] on May 19, 1999.<ref name="NRIS" />


==Timeline of Events==
== Sequence of events ==
The fire started when lightning struck the south side of [[Mann Gulch]] at the [[Gates of the Mountains Wilderness|Gates of the Mountains]], a canyon over five miles long that cuts through a series of 1,200 foot cliffs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mbmg.mtech.edu/gmr/lewis_clark/lewis_clark-gates.asp|title=Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology: Lewis and Clark in Montana – a geologic perspective|accessdate=2014-07-07}}</ref><ref name=Weick1993>{{cite journal|last=Weick|first=Karl E.|title=The Collapse of Sensemaking in Organizations: The Mann Gulch Disaster|journal=Administrative Science Quarterly|year=1993|volume=38|issue=4|pages=628–652|jstor=2393339|doi=10.2307/2393339}}</ref> The place was noted and named by [[Lewis and Clark]] on their journey west in 1805.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/lewisandclark/site19.htm|title=Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings: Gates of the Rocky Mountains|accessdate=2014-07-07}}</ref> The fire was spotted by forest ranger James O. Harrison around noon on August 5, 1949. Harrison, a college student at [[Montana State University]], was working the summer as recreation and fire prevention guard for the Meriwether Canyon Campground. He had been a [[smokejumper]] the previous year but had given it up because of the danger.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://foresthistory.org/research-explore/us-forest-service-history/policy-and-law/fire-u-s-forest-service/famous-fires/mann-gulch-fire-1949 |title= US Forest Service History, Mann Gulch Fire |accessdate= 2014-07-07}}</ref> As a ranger, he still had a responsibility to watch for and help fight fires, but it was not his primary role.<ref name="mm">{{cite book |author= Matthews, Mark |title= A Great Day to Fight a Fire: Mann Gulch, 1949 |publisher= University Of Chicago Press |year= 2007 |isbn= 978-0-8061-3857-2}}, p. 31.</ref> On this day, he fought the fire on his own for four hours before he met the crew of smokejumpers who had been dispatched from Hale Field, [[Missoula, Montana]], in a [[Douglas DC-3]].
The following chronology combines two parallel narratives: 1) Canyon Ferry District Ranger John Robert Jansson's effort to provide support for the smokejumpers and 2) the events surrounding the deaths of the 13 crewmen led by foreman R. Wagner Dodge in Mann Gulch.


It was hot, with a temperature of 97&nbsp;°F, and the fire danger rating was high, rated 74 out of a possible 100.<ref name="MacleanYoungMenandFire"/>{{rp|p.42}}<ref name=Weick1993 /><ref name=Lillquist2006>{{cite journal |last= Lillquist |first=Karl |title= Teaching with catastrophe: Topographic map interpretation and the physical geography of the 1949 Mann Gulch, Montana wildfire |journal= Journal of Geoscience Education |year=2006 |volume= 54 |issue=5 |pages= 561–571 |url= https://www.cwu.edu/geography/sites/cts.cwu.edu.geography/files/Teaching%20with%20Catastrophe%20Topographic%20Map%20Interpretationand%20the%20Physical%20Geography%20and%20the%201949%20Mann%20Gulch,%20Montana%20Wildfire.pdf |accessdate= June 16, 2013}}</ref> Wind conditions were turbulent. The plane flight was especially rough. One smokejumper got sick on the way and did not jump, returning with the airplane to Hale Field. Getting off the plane, he resigned from the smokejumpers. The remaining 15 smokejumpers parachuted into an open area at the top of the gulch. Below them, they could see the fire burning on the south ridge further down toward the Missouri River. Gear and individual jumpers were scattered widely due to the conditions. Their radio was destroyed after its parachute failed to open.<ref name=Rothermel1993>{{cite web |last=Rothermel |first=Richard C. |title= The Mann Gulch Fire: A Race That Couldn't be Won |url= http://www.fireleadership.gov/toolbox/staffride/downloads/lsr14/Race_That_Couldnt_Be_Won.pdf |work= Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-299 |publisher= USDA Forestry Service |accessdate= June 17, 2013}}</ref> After the smokejumpers had landed, a shout was heard coming from the front of the fire. The foreman, Wagner "Wag" Dodge, went out ahead to find the person shouting and to scout the fire. He left instructions for the team to finish gathering their equipment and eat, and then to cross the gully to the south slope and advance to the front of the fire. The voice turned out to be Jim Harrison who had been fighting the fire by himself for the past four hours.<ref name=Weick1993 /><ref name=Turner1999>{{cite journal|last=Turner|first=Dave|title=The Thirteenth Fire|journal=Forest History Today|year=1999|issue=Spring|pages=26–28|url=https://foresthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Turner_The-thirteenth-fire.pdf|accessdate=June 16, 2013}}</ref>
'''4 August 1949'''


The two headed back up the gulch with Dodge noting that you could not get closer to within 100 feet of the fire due to the heat. The crew met Dodge and Harrison about half way to the fire. Dodge instructed the team to move off the front of the fire, and instead move down the gulch and cross over to the thinly-forested and grass-covered north slope of the gulch; "sidehilling" (keeping the same contour or elevation) and moving "down gulch" towards the [[Missouri River]]. They could then fight the fire from the flank and steer it to a low-fuel area. Dodge returned with Harrison to the supply area at the top of the gulch. The two stopped there to eat. From the high vantage point, Dodge noticed the smoke along the fire front boiling up indicating an intensification of the heat of the fire. He and Harrison headed down the gulch to catch up with the crew.
'''4:00 pm''' – An intense electrical storm passed over [[Gates of the Mountains Wilderness|Gates of the Mountains Wild Area]], sparking eight fires. John Robert Jansson, Canyon Ferry District Ranger, quickly organized the suppression of the four fires that had been reported in his jurisdiction.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 87-88">Maclean, 2017. p. 87-88</ref> A lightning strike on the upper south slope of Mann Gulch (within the Canyon Ferry RD) produced a holdover fire (a so-called "sleeper") that initially went undetected.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 88">Maclean, 2017. p. 88</ref><ref name="US Forest Service, 1991">US Forest Service, 1991</ref>
Fire danger rating on 4 August was not critical, ranking [[McArthur Forest Fire Danger Index|16 out of a possible 100]], but temperatures in recent days had been in the upper 90s °F (upper 30s °C) with low humidity.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 88: "... conditions [on the 4th] were not critical ..."</ref> The cooler and wetter 1948 summer had provided for a prolific grass understory and seed production in the spring of 1949.<ref>.Lillquist, 2006. p. 565: "... an early August heat wave ..." and "The elimination of commercial cattle grazing on the gulch, due to its 1948 designation as part of the Gates of the Mountains Wild Area [now wilderness area] "was relatively insignificant ... because the north side of Mann Gulch was generally too steep and lacked water for cattle."</ref>


===The "blow up"===
Concerned about sleeper fires, Jansson requested an aerial survey of the district for 6:00 am on the following day, 5 August.<ref>US Forest Service, 1991: "... so concerned in fact, that he requested that a plane fly his District at 6:00 am."</ref>
[[File:Mann Gulch Fire, map of events, 5 August 1949.png|thumb|800px| '''Figure 1'''. Mann Gulch Fire, map of events, 5 August 1949<ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 3</ref>]]
[[File:Mann Gulch 02.JPG|thumb|Mann Gulch today, north slope on the left side of photo]]
By the time Dodge reached his men, the fire at the bottom of the gulch had already jumped from the south ridge to the bottom of the north slope. The intense heat combined with wind coming off the river and pushed the flames up-gulch into the dry grass of the north slope causing what fire fighters call a "blow up". Various side ridges running down the north slope obscuring the crew's view, so they could not see the conditions further down the gulch, and they initially continued down toward the fire. When Dodge finally got a glimpse of what was happening below, he turned the men around and started them angling back up the gulch. Within a couple hundred yards, he ordered the men to drop packs and heavy tools ([[Pulaski (tool)|Pulaskis]], shovels and crosscut saws):
'''5 August 1949'''


<blockquote>Dodge's order was to throw away just their packs and heavy tools, but to his surprise some of them had already thrown away all of their heavy equipment. On the other hand, some of them wouldn't abandon their heavy tools, even after Dodge's order. Diettert, one of the most intelligent of the crew, continued carrying both his tools until Rumsey caught up with him, took his shovel and leaned it against a pine tree. Just a little further on, Rumsey and Sallee pass the recreation guard, Jim Harrison, who, having been on the fire all afternoon, was now exhausted. He was sitting with his heavy pack on and was making no effort to take it off<ref name="MacleanYoungMenandFire"/>{{rp|p.42}}<ref name=Weick1996>{{cite journal|last=Weick|first=Karl E.|title=Drop Your Tools: An Allegory for Organizational Studies|journal=Administrative Science Quarterly|year=1996|volume=41|issue=2|pages=301–313|jstor=2393722|doi=10.2307/2393722}}</ref></blockquote>
'''8:00 am''' – US Forest Service aerial observers report no new fires at Mann Gulch.<ref name="US Forest Service, 1991"/>


By this point, the fire was moving extremely fast up the 76% north slope (37.23 degree slope) of Mann gulch and Dodge realized they would not be able to make the ridge line in front of the fire. With the fire less than a hundred yards behind, he took a match out and set fire to the grass just before them. In doing so, he was attempting to create an [[escape fire]] to lie in so that the main fire would burn around him and his crew. In the back draft of the main fire, the grass fire set burned straight up toward the ridge above. Turning to the three men by him – Robert Sallee, Walter Rumsey and Eldon Diettert – Dodge said "Up this way", but the men misunderstood him. The three ran straight up for the ridge crest, moving up along the far edge of Dodge's fire. Sallee later said he wasn't sure what Dodge was doing, and thought perhaps he intended the fire to act as a buffer between the men and the main fire. It was not until he got to the ridge crest and looked back down that he realized what Dodge had intended. As the rest of the crew came up, Dodge tried to direct them through the fire he had set and into the center burnt out area. Dodge later stated that someone, possibly squad leader William Hellman, said "To hell with that, I'm getting out of here". The rest of the team raced on past Dodge up the side of the slope toward the [[Hogback (geology)|hogback]] of Mann Gulch ridge, hoping they had enough time to get through the rock ridge line and over to safer ground on the other side. None of the men racing up before the fire entered into the escape fire.
'''9:00 am''' (approx.) – Ranger Jansson contacted James O. Harrison, former smokejumper and recreation guard at the Meriwether Canyon guard station and directed him to conduct a foot patrol in Mann Gulch to search for possible sleeper fires.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 87-88"/><ref name="US Forest Service, 1991"/>


=== Immediate outcome ===
'''11:00 am''' – Jansson flew observation over Mann Gulch, but saw no evidence of fire and returned to the Helena airport.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 88"/><ref>US Forest Service, 1991: "Ranger Jansson was still concerned, so he flew the District, including the Mann Gulch area, at 11: 00 am. He reported no new fires, and landed in Helena at 12:25."</ref>
Four of the men reached the ridge crest, but only two, Bob Sallee and Walter Rumsey, managed to escape through a crevice or deep fissure in the rock ridge to reach the other side. In the dense smoke of the fire, the two had no way of knowing if the crevice they found actually "went through" to the other side or would be a blind trap. Diettert had been just to the right, slightly upgulch of Sallee and Rumsey, but he did not drop back to the crevice and continued on up the right side of the hogback. He did not find another escape route and was overtaken by the fire. Sallee and Rumsey came through the hogback to the ridge crest above what became known as ''Rescue Gulch''. Dropping down off the ridge, they managed to find a rock slide with little to no vegetation. They waited there for the fire to overtake them, moving from the bottom of the slide to the top as the fire moved past. Hellman was caught by the fire on the top of the ridge and was badly burned. Though he and Joseph Sylvia initially survived the fire, they suffered heavy injuries and both died in hospital the next day. Wag Dodge entered the charred center of the escape fire he had built and survived the intensely burning main fire.<ref name=Rothermel1993 />


In ''Young Men and Fire'', Maclean stated that when the fire passed over Dodge's position, "he was lifted off the ground two or three times."<ref name=MacleanYoungMenandFire />{{rp|p.106}} Later researchers repeated the claim.<ref name=Rothermel1993 /> However, this statement was an exaggeration. Dodge actually wrote, in his statement to the board of review, "There were three extreme gusts of hot air that almost lifted me from the ground as the fire passed over"<ref>{{cite news|last1=Anon|title=Dodge Describes Tragedy of Fire Fighters|work=The Missoulian|date=August 14, 1949|page=1}}</ref><ref name=TrimotorTrail>{{cite book|last1=Cooley|first1=Earl|title=Trimotor and trail|date=1984|publisher=Mountain Press Publishing Co.|location=Missoula|isbn=0-87842-173-4|page=98}}</ref> In another description of Dodge's ordeal, John Maclean said, "as the main fire passed, it [the fire] picked him up and shook him like a dog with a bone."<ref name=FireAndAshes>{{cite book|last1=Maclean|first1=John|title=Fire and Ashes|date=2004|publisher=Owl Books/Henry Holt and Company LLC|location=New York, NY|isbn=0-8050-7591-7|page=180}}</ref>
'''11:30 am''' ("late morning") – Jim Harrison located a new fire on Mann Gulch.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 71">Maclean, 2017. p. 71</ref>


Although ''Young Men and Fire'' attributed the story to Earl Cooley, the spotter and kicker aboard the airplane,<ref name=TrimotorTrail />{{rp|p.83}} it actually originated with C.E. "Mike" Hardy, who was the head of the litter bearers collecting the bodies the day after the disaster.<ref name=Alexander>{{cite web|last1=Alexander|first1=Martin E.|last2=Ackerman|first2=Mark Y.|last3=Baxter|first3=Gregory J.|title=An Analysis of Dodge's Escape Fire on the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire in Terms of a Survival Zone for Wildland Firefighters|url=http://www.wildlandfire.com/docs/2009/lessons-learn/dodge-escape-fire-analysis.pdf|website=Wildland Fire Information|publisher=FireWhat, Incorporated|accessdate=July 16, 2015}}</ref> Hardy assisted Norman Maclean in his research and accompanied him on a trip to the site.<ref name=MacleanYoungMenandFire />{{rp|p.157}}
'''12:15 pm''' – Harrison attempted to report the fire to Missoula office and the Canyon Ferry RD by radio, but was unable to establish contact. He climbed 1500 feet (460 meters) from the Meriwether Guard Station to reach the fire perimeter and began to work on the blaze with his Pulaski about 1:30 pm.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 71"/>


It was originally thought that the unburned patches underneath the bodies indicated they had suffocated for lack of air before the fire caught them.<ref name=Lillquist>{{cite journal|last1=Lillquist|first1=Karl|title=Teaching with Catastrophe: Topographic Map Interpretation and the Physical Geography of the 1949 Mann Gulch, Montana Wildfire|journal=Journal of Geoscience Education|date=November 2006|volume=54|issue=5|pages=561–571}}</ref> This is another fallacy. In modern fire science, the unburned patches are called protected areas.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Anon|title=NFPA 921, Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations|date=2014|publisher=National Fire Protection Association|location=Quincy, MA|isbn=978-145590862-2|pages=62–63}}</ref> The firefighters' bodies protected these areas by shielding from the intense thermal radiation, by keeping out hot gases, and absorbing heat. All of these factors kept the grass and forest litter unburned where they were lying. It is now known that death by smoke and toxic gas inhalation, while common in structure fires because of the confined atmosphere, is virtually nonexistent among wildland fire fatalities.<ref name=Shusterman>{{cite journal|last1=Shusterman|first1=Dennis|last2=Kaplan|first2=Jerold Z.|last3=Canabarro|first3=Carla|title=Immediate Health Effects of an Urban Wildfire|journal=Western Journal of Medicine|date=February 1993|volume=158|pages=133–138}}</ref>
'''12:18 pm''' – Colorado Mountain Lookout, 30 miles away, reported smoke in Mann Gulch.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 89">Maclean, 2017. p. 89</ref> Jansson, arriving back at Helena airport detected smoke on the district, but was perplexed because he just flew Mann Gulch and had seen nothing.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 89"/><ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 565: "... officially sited by Colorado Mountain lookout (located about 29 miles southeast of Mann Gulch) at 12:18 ..."</ref>


=== Timing ===
'''12:55 pm''' –Returning to Mann Gulch to fly a second survey, Jansson located a 6 to 8 acre (2.4 to 3.2 hectares) fire along the upper south slope of the gulch. He considered the rate of growth of the sleeper "unusual" and "exceptional."<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 89: "... eight acres in extent (six acres by a later survey)."</ref><ref>US Forest Service, 1991: " The fire was doing some minor crowning in juniper and pine reproduction, but was not spreading excessively, even though it had already grown to 8 acres in an hour."</ref><ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 565: "... fire covered eight acres ..."</ref>
The events described above all transpired in a relatively short period of time. Everyone had jumped by around 4:10&nbsp;p.m. The scattered cargo had been gathered at about 5:00&nbsp;p.m. At about 5:45&nbsp;p.m., the crew had seen the fire coming up towards them on the north slope and had turned to run. By four minutes to 6:00, the fire had swept over them. The time at which the fire engulfed the men was judged by the melted hands on Harrison's pocketwatch, forever frozen at 5:56&nbsp;p.m. by the intense heat. 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. Thirteen firefighters died, with eleven killed in the fire itself and two who sustained fatal burns. Only three of the sixteen survived.

'''1:00 pm''' (early afternoon) – Jansson begins to assemble and mobilize ground crews to fight the Mann Gulch fire.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 90-91">Maclean, 2017. p. 90-91</ref>

'''1:45 pm''' – Helena National Forest Supervisor Arthur Duncan Moir believed the fire required a rapid response and ordered the deployment of twenty-five smokejumpers to the remote site. The blaze was regarded as manageable for a small firefighting crew until a larger ground crew arrived.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 90-91"/><ref name="Lillquist, 2006. p. 565">Lillquist, 2006. p. 565</ref><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 2: "One of the basic tenets of firefighting is to reach a fire quickly [and] attack it when it is still small. Smokejumpers are very effective" in this regard.</ref>

===Mobilization===

'''2:30 pm''' – A [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain|C-47]] departed from Missoula's Hale Field, 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of the gulch carrying 16 jumpers and their equipment - the airplanes maximum capacity. (Additional smokejumpers were available for action, but all other transport planes were engaged on other projects). The smokejumpers, including the foreman, ranged in age from 17 to 33 (average age, 22). The majority of the firefighters were attending forestry classes at the [[University of Montana|Montana State University]] in Missoula. For most of them, this was their first year in the smokejumper program.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 49, p. 91</ref><ref name="Lillquist, 2006. p. 565"/><ref name="Rothermel, 1993. p. 2">Rothermel, 1993. p. 2</ref>

'''2:30 – 4:30 pm''' – Jansson and his alternate, Ranger Harry Hersey, recruited nineteen able-bodied ground firefighters, just three of whom had served previously on fires. Logistical and transportation delays plagued the mobilization. On the way to the planned assembly area at the mouth of Mann Gulch, Jansson suspected that the fire might be encroaching into Merriweather Canyon, a scenic area. He directed Hersey to ascend the Meriwether trail with the 19-man ground crew and attack the fire at the Mann Gulch/Meriwether ridge.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 71: "a tourist treasure ..."p. 93</ref><ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 566: "... to prevent from burning into the beautiful Meriwether Canyon."</ref><ref>US Forest Service, 1991: "Jansson instructed [Hersey] to take all 19 men and to attack the fire from the Mann Gulch/Meriwether Saddle, and to try to hold the fire on the ridge."</ref> The temperature at Helena, 25 miles to the south, was reaching 97&nbsp;°F (36&nbsp;°C), the hottest day on record to date. The fire danger rating was calculated at 74 out of 100: "explosive stage".<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 49, p. 88</ref>

'''3:10 pm''' – C-47 pilot Kenneth Huber located the fire in Mann Gulch and began to circle. Spotter and jumpmaster [[Earl Cooley (smokejumper)|Earl Cooley]] and crew foreman R. Wagner Dodge appraised the fire. They observed that since 4 August, the lightning caused blaze had scorched 50 to 60 acres, originating in Mann Gulch and spreading upslope and south to the crest at Meriwether Canyon, where it had crowned and burnt out without generating any spot fires. The fire was moving gradually downhill to the northeast (up gulch) through sparse grass. The fire appeared to be routine.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 48-49</ref><ref>US Forest Service, 1991: "Spotter Earl Cooley and Jumper Foreman Wag Dodge chose a jump site at the head of Mann Gulch. The fire was estimated at 60 acres, but they still considered it a routine fire."</ref>

{{quote box|width=30em|bgcolor=cornsilk|align=right|fontsize=90%|salign=right|quote= Never let a fire get below you on a mountain. Only bears and fires – not firefighters – can run uphill faster than down.|source=''&ndash; An old firefighter rule''<ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 56</ref>}}

'''3:50 pm to 4:10 pm''' – Smokejumpers and cargo drops completed. (Figure 1) After dropping the men at the customary 1200 feet (368 meters) elevation, Huber took the C-47 to 2000 feet (613 meters) to drop the equipment because of heavy turbulence. As a result, the gear was widely scattered on the north slope delaying its retrieval.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 55, p. 63</ref><ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 565-566: "The plane had to drop its cargo from a higher elevation than normal because of turbulent air, thus the stronger winds aloft had more opportunity to caster the cargo ... fifty minutes to collect gear and cargo ..."</ref><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 2 "The cargo drop did not go smoothly ... [the plane] encountered heavy turbulence at normal drop altitude and was forced to climb before dropping the remaining cargo. The firefighting gear was scattered ..."</ref>

Several of the sixteen smokejumpers experienced flight sickness due to the turbulence and one of them became too ill to jump. Merle "Skip" Stratton submitted his resignation from the US Forest Service when the airplane returned to Missoula that evening, before news of the tragedy was reported. He would be return to Mann Gulch to assist in the recovery operation of his deceased comrades.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 58</ref><ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 565</ref>

Dodge was not provided with topographical maps of the area and was expected to obtain them when he encountered ground crews at the site.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 49</ref>
The single-sideband radio was smashed when its static line broke and the chute failed to deploy.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 64</ref>

'''4:35 pm''' – Jansson proceeded by boat along the Missouri towards the mouth of Mann Creek to begin a survey of its south slope and to establish contact with the smokejumpers.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 94-95</ref><ref name="Rothermel, 1993. p. 2"/>

'''4:55 pm''' – Smokejumper equipment collected and assembled at cargo area. (Figure 1) The crew was about one mile as the raven flies up the drainage from the Missouri River. They could see the fire's perimeter about 0.25 miles (0.4 kilometers) to the southwest on the south slope which appeared to be burning away from the crew. The men were "not greatly impressed" with the blaze and only concerned that "the steep and rocky ground" would make mop up difficult the next morning. Smokejumper Robert Sallee later remarked, "I took a look at the fire and decided it wasn't bad. It was burning on top of the ridge and I thought it would continue on up the ridge ..."<ref name="Rothermel, 1993. p. 2"/><ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 65</ref>
'''5:00 pm''' – The smokejumpers heard a shout near the fire perimeter. Foreman Dodge ordered squad leader Bill Hellman to take charge while he went to investigate. He discovered Jim Harrison near the fire line.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 71"/>

'''5:02 pm''' – Jansson began his ascent up Mann Gulch by foot. Visibility was about 200 yards (182 meters) due to dense smoke. Winds in the lower gulch were between 20 and 30&nbsp;mi/h (32 to 48&nbsp;km/h), gusting to 40&nbsp;mi/h (64&nbsp;km/h), much higher than those occurring in Helena, 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the south.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 95</ref><ref>US Forest Service, 1991: "Jansson then headed down [the Missouri] river, trying to size up the fire. By now, the canyon was so full of smoke he could hardly see. He landed at Mann Gulch and began to scout the fire."</ref>

'''5:10 pm''' – After spending about 10 minutes tooling up at the cargo area, the smokejumpers crossed the dry gulch bottom and began to climb the south slope towards the fire. Eleven of the smokejumpers were double-tooled, bearing both a [[Pulaski (tool)|Pulaski]] and a shovel. Two of the men carried the two-man [[crosscut saw]]s and one man shouldered the 5-gallon (19 liter) jug mounted on a backpack.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 65, p. 69</ref><ref name="Lillquist, 2006. p. 566">Lillquist, 2006. p. 566</ref>

'''5:12 pm – 5:15 pm''' – Dodge called to the crew to halt when they had advanced up the slope about 100 yards (92 meters) and he rejoined them immediately with Harrison. Dodge, in consultation with Harrison who has been on the fire for four hours, announced that the crew "had better get out of that thick reproduction [heavy fuels]" – dense stands of second-growth ponderosa pine and Douglas fir. The crew was downwind of the fire, a potential "death trap" according to Dodge.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 72</ref><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 2: ". ... not the safest place to attack the fire ..."</ref>

Dodge directed Hellman to cross back to the north side of the gulch and march the men southwest and to "sidehill" (follow the contour) towards the Missouri River. He cautioned them to stay high enough up the north slope to keep the fire on the south slope in view. The plan was to attack the fire on its western flank (the upwind position) so as to prevent its spread into Meriwether Canyon. Dodge was not yet alarmed and returned with Harrison about 300 yards (276 meters) to the cargo assembly area to pick up some food and water while Hellman proceeded west with the smokejumpers.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 73</ref><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 2: "The smokejumpers believed they were going to attack the fire ... on the upwind side ... near the [Missouri] river ... a safer location ..."</ref><ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 566: "Dodge and Harrison hurried back to the [cargo dump] where they filled their canteen and grabbed some ration packs in anticipation of a long night of firefighting."</ref> From the elevated position at the cargo area, Dodge could see that the fire was "boiling up" and determined he would evacuate the men from Mann Gulch.<ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. "Dodge had a clear view of the fire and could see it was burning more rapidly than before."</ref>

During the past hour, the wind had shifted 180° and was now coming from the south and blowing forcefully upgulch.<ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 2: "... the wind had been blowing from the north and west at 6 to 8 mi/h that afternoon. At 3:30 pm [it] switched to the south [blowing at] 14 to 22 mi/h." and p. 3: "... as the crew proceeded down the gulch, they were walking into a strong headwind."</ref><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 3: "... the crew was not worried about safety" at 5:40 pm, despite Dodge's comment about a "death trap".</ref>

==="Blowup" and Retreat===

'''5:15 pm''' – Ranger Jansson had walked almost 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) from the mouth of Mann Gulch in the thickening smoke. (Figure 1) Spot fires were appearing around him. He was witnessing the early stages of the south slope "blowup" about 300 yards (276 meters) south of where the smokejumpers would be forced to flee up the north slope just minutes later. Jansson believed he heard metallic noises of men wielding tools and walked another 200 yards (61 meters) upslope to investigate, but the sound was probably an aural hallucination caused by the raging fire.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 95-96, p. 99</ref>

The fire's rapid descent from the Meriwether Canyon ridge downslope to the mouth of the gulch was likely propelled by a brief thunderstorm at the Meriwether Canyon ridge . During this "blowup" event a [[Vortex|wind vortex]] produced "[[fire whirl]]s", lofting burning debris over to the north slope.<ref name="Lillquist, 2006. p. 565"/><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 3-4: "... after the tragedy that followed, fire experts were particularly concerned with understanding how the fire got from the ridge high on the south side of Mann Gulch to the mouth of the gulch and later to the north side. To this day, two opinions persist. One is that downdrafts of a small local thunderstorm blew the fire off the ridge into the mouth of the canyon. This idea is supported by motion picture films (now lost) taken by a Forest Service photographer from the same aircraft that dropped Dodge's crew ... Other fire experts suspected whirlwinds may have spread the fire. Fire whirls and downdrafts from thunderstorms or the fire's convection column can occur together ... This very likely could have been the case because the ridge between Meriwether and Mann Gulch would cause a southerly wind to form a vortex on the lee side in perfect position to loft numerous firebrands and carry them to the north side of Mann Gulch.</ref>

'''5:30 pm''' – Jansson began to retreat down the gulch. The superheated air had created a thermal "convection vortex" that threatened to sear his lungs. He made a dash to escape but momentarily passed out. Recovering just as flames were a few yards (meters) away, he fled down gulch and reached the river at 5:41 pm.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 99</ref><ref name="Lillquist, 2006. p. 566">Lillquist, 2006. p. 566</ref> Approximately the same time Jansson was fleeing from the "blowup" near the mouth of the gulch, Dodge and his men were, unawares, marching directly towards it.<ref>Maclean, 1992. p. 85-86: "At about the same time the Dodge and his crew were hurrying down gulch into the blowup, ranger Robert Jansson at the lower end was running from the blowup back to the river."</ref>

'''5:40 pm''' – Dodge and Harrison overtook the crew to find that that the men had split into two groups about 500 feet (152 meters) apart. Dodge gathered the men into a single column and led them down gulch with Hellman taking the rear.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 75</ref><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 2-3: "Foreman Dodge and ... Harrison overtook the crew at about 5:40 pm.</ref><ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 566: "Dodge took the lead and Hellman the rear of the column as it contoured toward the [Missouri] river."</ref>

{{quote box|width=30em|bgcolor=cornsilk|align=right|fontsize=90%|salign=right|quote= At the time [the column started descending the gulch] the fire began burning a little more fiercely. We all noticed it. A very interesting spectacle. That's about all we thought about it|source=''&ndash; 21-year old smokejumper Walter Ramsey''<ref name="Lillquist, 2006. p. 566">Lillquist, 2006. p. 566</ref>}}

'''5:45 pm''' – Leading the column, Dodge saw that the south slope fire had jumped to the north slope of Mann Gulch directly west of them and was advancing towards them steadily, driven by the up gulch wind. The blaze was igniting heavy fuels, including conifer reproduction and creating high intensity crown fires, with multiple spotting. [[British thermal unit|Btu]]'s per foot per second were estimated to range from 400 to 1000. Wind driven flames were about 7 – 10 feet (2.1 - 3.0 meters) high and moving diagonally uphill towards the smokejumpers.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 79, p. 300-301</ref>

The route to the river was clearly blocked. Dodge instantly ordered his men to reverse direction and move upslope and cross-contour, climbing obliquely to the northeast. (Figure 1, Pt 1) The fire front, about 150 – 200 yards (138 – 184 meters) distance was advancing at an estimated rate of 120 feet per minute (37 meters per minute) or 1.4 miles per hour [mi/h] (22 kilometers per hour) [km/h].<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 79: "... angling toward the top of the [north] ridge on a steep grade ... the ground was too rocky and the fire coming too fast to dare to go a right angle to it [straight up]."</ref><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 3: "... they saw fire blocking their route to the river ..."</ref><ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 567</ref>

The men proceeded up the cross-contour 18% grade through scattered stands of mature ponderosa pine. The grassy groundcover stood about 2.5 feet (0.75 meters) high (thigh to waist deep). The men were walking at a rate of 2&nbsp;mph (3.2&nbsp;km/h) and still carrying their firefighting equipment.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 302</ref>

At the time the column of firefighters begin their retreat, they had about a four or five minute head start on the fire.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 300-301</ref><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 5: "... initially the men were still carrying their packs and tools."</ref>
{{quote box|width=30em|bgcolor=cornsilk|align=right|fontsize=90%|salign=right|quote= Ranger Jansson soon noted that the fire was 'whirling' and spreading firebrands (i.e. burning debris) to the north of the bottom of Mann Gulch. The fire whirls ... suggest that fire had become a 'blowup'. A 'blowup' occurs when a fire rapidly transitions from a ground fire to a [[Wildfire|crown fire]] and creates its own convection vortex. Fuel, terrain and wind – the classic fire triangle – are the causes of these brief, but very explosive events.|source=''&ndash; Physical Geographer Karl Lillquist, Central Washington University''<ref name="Lillquist, 2006. p. 566">Lillquist, 2006. p. 566</ref><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 4</ref>}}

The behavior of the fire was about to change under the influence of the turbulent winds, steep slope and the lighter and more volatile ground cover. When the wind, estimated at 30&nbsp;mi/h (48&nbsp;km/h), pushed the fire into the grass understory, its speed accelerated to an estimated 280 feet per minute (86 meters per minute) or 3.2&nbsp;mi/h (5.1&nbsp;km/h). Heat intensity also increased, rising to 2500 – 4000 Btu. The leading edge of the flames were reaching 16–20 feet (4.9 to 6.1 meters) in height. While the fire accelerated under the influence of the increasing slope, the smokejumpers progress slowed.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 302-303</ref><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 4: "More grass and brush appeared in the understory. The crew may not have recognized the consequences of the fuel. The lighter fuel would have produced a faster spreading fire. Other factors were in the fire's favor. The fire was burning uphill with a following wind; the uphill grade slowed the crew, but it caused the fire to accelerate.</ref>

'''5:53 pm''' – Dodge ordered the crew to drop tools and packs (some men had already jettisoned their equipment, others continued to cling to them). (Figure 1, Pt 2) Artifacts discovered later at the tool drop site were found within a 50-foot radius (15 meter), indicating that the column was still cohesive at this point. Testimony from survivors suggests that beyond the drop site some of the men began to break away in a race for the ridge.<ref>Rothermel, 2006. p. 6: "The official report states all tools were found within a 100-ft circle, so the crew was together at that point ... Sallee said that Navon, a former paratrooper, who fought with the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II, could be seen up the slope ahead of the crew. Others may already have joined him, because the final position of the bodies showed four crew members traveled much farther than the others. In his book, Maclean describes these men as the 'four horsemen'."</ref>

The advancing wall of fire was about 100 yards (92 meters) from the column and rapidly overtaking them from the west and south.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 80-81, p. 300</ref><ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 567: "... 225—300 feet behind" when they dropped their gear.</ref><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 5: "At [5:53 pm] Dodge told his men to drop their tools."</ref> By this time, the men knew they were in a desperate situation. Unburdened, they increased their pace to about 4&nbsp;mph (6.4&nbsp;km/h).

The crew suddenly emerged from the sparse timber and into a mostly treeless expanse where they could clearly see the top of Mann Gulch ridge.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 103</ref><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 5: "Most of the crew realized now that they were in real trouble."</ref> The groundcover here was dry and highly combustible [[Bromus tectorum|Cheat grass]] and [[Festuca|Fescue]], tinder dry in the near 100&nbsp;°F (38&nbsp;°C) heat. Leaving the timber behind, the surface winds were estimated to have increased, with gusts up to 40&nbsp;mph (64&nbsp;km/h).<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 303-304, p. 305</ref>

When the fire blew into this open landscape it was travelling at a variable rate 360–610 feet per minute (110 – 187 meters per minute), or 4.1 to 6.9&nbsp;mph (6.6 to 11.0&nbsp;km/h). The Btu's had risen to 5,500 -9000. The flames ranged in height from 10 – 40 feet (3.1 – 12.3 meters).<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 305</ref><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 5: At this point "the timber was even thinner [which] allowed the wind to increase ... the fire's spread increased to somewhere between 360-610 ft./min."</ref>
[[File:Mann Gulch Fire, 1949. Dodge "escape fire" map.jpg|thumb|600px |'''Figure 2''' - Mann Gulch Fire, 1949. Dodge "escape fire" map<ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 9</ref>]]

'''5:55 pm''' – At 220 yards (202 meters) beyond the equipment drop, Dodge walking in the lead of the column, reached a small grassy clearly at a steep grade break. (Figure 1, Pt 3)<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 104-105">Maclean, 2017. p. 104-105</ref> This position was 200 yards (184 meters) from the top of the ridge, measured at right angles (perpendicular) to the contour.

The fire had gained on the crew at every stage of their retreat.<ref>Rothermel, 1993. p.4 Since the start of the retreat "the crew went faster during each successive leg of the journey. But the fire went even faster."</ref> Despite having doubled their speed, the fire had closed to within 50 yards (46 meters) of the rear of the column.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 304</ref>

Dodge judged that he and his men could not reach the ridge before being overtaken and engulfed by the flames.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 83-84, p. 102</ref><ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 567: "... Dodge realized that the crew did not have time to make the ridgetop before being overrun by the fire rapidly approaching from the rear."</ref> The fire was advancing at an estimated average rate of 660&nbsp;ft/min (202 meters/mi) or 7.5&nbsp;mi/h (12&nbsp;km/h), an extremely rapid spread. The temperature of fire was estimated to measure at least 1500&nbsp;°F (815&nbsp;°C).<ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 6</ref>

[[Fire triangle|Applying a principle of basic fire science]], Dodge immediately ignited a flimsy "gofer" match and swept it across the grass.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 104-105"/><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 7: "Dodge is reported to have lit his fire with book matches, further evidence of a momentary period of calm, since such matches are notoriously poor for sustaining a flame in a wind.</ref> The flames quickly spread uphill, initially burning at relatively low intensity. The wind at his position was lighter due to the backdraft created by the approaching inferno. Within seconds his grass fire had grown to one hundred square feet (9.2 square meters).<ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 7: "Dodge's grass fire would have spread up the slope if there were no wind to drive it up the canyon with the main fire. Consequently, as reported, it would have spread up the side of the gulch to the north toward the rimrock."</ref> Dodge's intention was to create a fuel-free zone, where the crew could take refuge. He expected that the main fire would roar around the burnt over area, leaving the men unharmed. No protocol existed in the US Forest Service for this so-called "escape fire."<ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 567: "Dodge lit clumps of grass on fire ~5:55 p.m. in hopes of creating a burned over, fuel-free zone around which the main fire would burn thus providing a safe haven for the men. When later asked by the Board of Review whether he had been taught to set an escape fire in such a situation, Dodge replied "Not that I know of. It just seemed the logical thing to do. I had been instructed if possible to get into a burned area"</ref><ref>Rothemel, 1993. p. 6: "Dodge must have realized they could not reach safety [by fleeing] and conceived the idea of burning away a small clearing. The escape fire, as it came to be called, would quickly clear an area [of] fire fuels, giving the crew a chance to escape the main fire."</ref>

Four smokejumpers at the head of the column – Walter Rumsey, Robert Sallee, Eldon Diettert and squad leader Hellman – reached the foreman first and were bewildered by his actions, despite his efforts to explain his purpose.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 106">Maclean, 2017. p. 106</ref><ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 567: "... among the first to pass Dodge as he lit the [escape] fire."</ref> The men hesitated for a few moments, then one of them said "To hell with that, I'm getting out of here" and the men rushed straight uphill towards the ridge about 200 yards distance.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 104-105"/><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 6: These four men "took the shortest but steepest route directly up the slope to the ridge top."</ref> Sallee, a survivor, would later declare that "No one could live who left Dodge even seconds after we did." (Figure 2)<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 106"/>

{{quote box|width=30em|bgcolor=cornsilk|align=right|fontsize=90%|salign=right|quote=An exchange between C. M. Granger, USFS administrator and R. Wagner Dodge, crew foreman during the Board of Review testimony, 26 September 1949:

'''GRANGER''': After the fire ... [d]id you at that time know what had happened to the rest of the crew?<br>
'''DODGE''': I had a fair idea. I didn't think any of them had made the ridge. <br>
'''GRANGER''': You didn't think any of them made the ridge? <br>
'''DODGE''': I didn't think any of them were still alive.<ref>USFS Board of Review Testimony, Mann Gulch Fire, 26 September 1949. https://www.nifc.gov/safety/mann_gulch/suggested_reading/Board_of_Review_%20Sept%2026_28_1949.pdf</ref>}}

About eight crewmen (exactly which of the crewmen is uncertain) advanced close enough to Dodge and the escape fire to see him motioning with his arms towards the burnt area and calling to them over the din of the roaring fire just yards (meters) away.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 84</ref> There is conjecture that four of the smokejumpers may have already fled ahead or were too far back in the column to hear him.<ref name="Maclean, 2017. p. 106"/><ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 567: "... deafening roar of the fire ..."</ref> A number of the firefighters reached further up the slope to a distance of about 375 yards (345 (meters) beyond the escape fire. This suggests that they may have been in advance of Dodge ''before'' be ignited his survival fire.

These eight firefighters hesitated briefly, perhaps no longer than 10 or 15 seconds before plunging onward up the canyon and angling towards the ridge. None of these men heeded Dodge.

Several of the firefighters had little more than a 15-second lead on the wall of fire as they passed the escape fire perimeter. Unable to climb faster than 400 feet/min (123 meters/min) or 4.5&nbsp;mi/h (7.5&nbsp;km/h), these men were overtaken by the flames in probably less than 45 seconds before they had covered more than 100 yards (92 meters) beyond the perimeter of Dodge's escape fire.<ref name="Rothermel, 1993. p. 6-7">Rothermel, 1993. p. 6-7</ref>

Four of the firefighters reached further up the slope to a distance of about 375 yards (345 (meters) beyond the escape fire before they were engulfed in the flames. This suggests that they may have been in advance of Dodge before be ignited his grass fire. These firefighters ran perhaps 620 (570 meters) after casting off their equipment at the drop site, jogging upslope at 460 feet/min (142 meters/min) or 5.3&nbsp;mi/h (8.4&nbsp;km/h), an astonishing rate to maintain on an 18% grade over rough terrain.<ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 6-7: "Dodge sized up the situation better than most of his crew, who either thought they could outrun the fire or saw no other alternative. Some if not all of the crew stopped briefly to see what Dodge was doing and listen to his pleas for them to get into the burned-out area he was preparing. Someone is reported to have said: "To hell with that, I'm getting out of here!" No one stayed with Dodge. The crew members split up afterward, with the majority continuing to run up the canyon. I estimate they delayed no longer than 15 s at point 3, probably not that long. Some traveled on the contour and others went slightly downhill. The slowest of the crew members only got about 100 yards before being caught by the fire. One man broke his leg while fleeing on the steep, rocky slope. The fire could have covered 100 yards in less than a minute at its calculated rate of 600 to 750 ft. /min.
Dodge estimated the men were caught in 30 s. If they had a 15-s lead on the fire after leaving him and traveled 100 yards before being caught 45 s later, they would have been running about 400 ft./min or 41⁄2 mi/h, a little faster than they were running when they approached Dodge at point 3. The four horsemen, who were found 375 yards beyond Dodge, may not have been with him when he started his fire. We can examine how fast they would have had to run to end up 375 yards beyond point 3, starting at either point 2 or point 3. From point 2 where the men dropped their tools to where the four horsemen died is 620 yd. If they were at point 2 at 5:53, the fire, according to my estimate, would have caught them at about 5:57 pm, just a minute or so after it caught the slower members. They would have had to have run 462 ft./min or 51⁄4 mi/h from point 2—an incredible pace on that slope. If they had been with Dodge and paused 15 seconds to catch their breath and watch him start the escape fire, they would have left him at 5:55 pm. They would have had to run 375 yards in about 2 min, a pace of 562 ft. /min or 61⁄2 mi/h. That is a jogging pace of about 9 min/mi; such a pace could be sustained on a level surface, but would be all but impossible to maintain for 375 yards in heat and smoke on an uphill slope with rocks and grass underfoot. Both scenarios would have required extreme effort. Since both were possible, we cannot say whether the four horsemen were with Dodge when he lit his fire. But the comparisons indicate that they probably were not."</ref>

One smokejumper, Stanley J. Reba broke a leg in his effort to escape the flames, a measure of how steep and treacherous the footing.<ref name="Rothermel, 1993. p. 6-7"/>

===Survivors===

Of the four firefighters who fled from Dodge to scramble the 100 – 140 yards (92 – 129 meters) straight to the ridge top, two survived: Robert Sallee and Walter Ramsey. The 17-year old Sallee mistakenly thought that Dodge's intent was to create a firebreak to slow the advance of the main fire. He, Ramsey and Diettert ascended to the right (east) of the growing escape blaze as it moved upslope. (Figure 2)<ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 7: "Since the crew did not understand why Dodge was firing the grass, no one stayed with him. Sallee and Rumsey thought Dodge had set a fire that would somehow shield them from the main fire."</ref><ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 567: "Two other crew members who ignored Dodge also survived the fire. Sallee, Rumsey, and Eldon Diettert were among the first to pass Dodge as he lit the fire. Sallee thought that Dodge wanted the men to follow the edge of his fire up to the ridge crest with Dodge's fire acting to slow down the inferno moving upgulch. Rumsey later testified "I remember thinking it [the escape fire] was a good idea ... don't know whether I understood. If I had fully realized it I probably would have gone right in. I kept thinking the ridge-if I can make it. On ridge I will be safe. I went up the right hand side of Rumsey reported that he could feel the heat of the main fire on this back as he neared the ridge crest</ref>
Approaching the crest, these three firefighters encountered a 6 to 12 foot high (1.8 to 3.7 meter) wall of [[rimrock]] or "reef" that blocked access to the top of the ridge. Ramsey and Salle were fortunate to notice a breach or crevice in the rimrock and ran through it to the ridge. Ramsey testified that he could feel the intense heat of the main fire on his back as they neared the top of the ridge. Diettert, just steps behind them, either did not see the crevice or chose to search elsewhere to cross over. His remains were found a hundred yards (92 meters) eastward at the base of the reef.<ref>Rothermel, 1993. p, 7: "These two men, along with another jumper [Diettert], scrambled up the right-hand side of Dodge's fire to the base of the rimrock. Maclean estimates this distance to be 100 to 140 yd. Fortunately, Sallee and Rumsey found a crevice in the rimrock through which they climbed to the relative safety of the ridge above. Here Rumsey collapsed in a juniper bush, too exhausted to move until Sallee rousted him out. They took refuge in a rockslide nearby. The third jumper, who followed the pair to the base of the rimrock, did not go through the crevice to the ridge above; his body was found at the base of the rimrock a few hundred feet away"</ref>
The squad leader, Hellman, ascended the slope parallel to these three firefighters, but on the left (west) side of the escape fire. He was forced to run a gauntlet of flames as he reached the rimrock barrier, but managed to pass over the ridge into Rescue Gulch.<ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 7: "The squad boss Hellman also ran toward the rimrock, but he went up the left side of the escape fire, putting him between the main fire and the escape fire. He was caught somewhere near the crevice in the rimrock. Although he made it over the top, he died from his burns the next day.</ref>

Moments before the main fire reached Dodge, he threw himself face down on the smoldering ashes of the escape fire. His mouth and nose were covered with a wet bandanna. The slope he had burned was ample enough in area so as to shield him from injury from heat radiation or from direct contact with the flames of the main fire. He was almost lifted from his prone position several times by powerful gusts of superheated air during the few minutes it took the inferno to pass.<ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 567: "As the roaring inferno neared, Dodge covered his mouth and nose with a canteen-moistened bandanna and lay down in the hot ashes. The main fire hit Dodge's location (Figure 5) "within seconds after the last man passed." Three violent gusts of superheated air nearly lifted him from the ground."</ref><ref>Rothermel, 1993. p. 7: "Dodge lay down within the area he had burned off. The grassy slope quickly burned away, giving him a large area free of fuels to prevent the main fire's flames or radiation from injuring him. Dodge said fierce winds lifted him off the ground three times during the few minutes it took the fire to pass over him. personal communication). At 6:10 Dodge was able to sit up and move about between the pockets of fire that were still burning.</ref>
[[File:Mann Gulch Fire, 1949. US Forest Service, retrieval of victim's bodies.jpg|thumb|degree=270|Mann Gulch Fire, 1949. US Forest Service. Retrieval of victim's bodies by fellow smokejumpers, August 6, 1949]]

Sallee and Ramsey fled into Rescue Gulch. Ramsey momentarily collapsed from exhaustion but with Sallee's urging they reached a downslope [[blockfield]] largely free of vegetation that afforded them some protection as the main fire continued over the ridge to burn downslope past them.<ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 568: "Another 100 yards of running in the head of what is now known as Rescue Gulch brought Rumsey and Sallee to a vegetation-free blockfield about 5 minutes ahead of the fire. They survived by moving around the blockfield as the fire approached from different sides."</ref>

'''6:10 pm''' – Dodge rose from the smoldering escape fire, his face and clothing blackened by the smoke, but otherwise virtually unscathed.<ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 567: "Amazingly, Dodge survived the blasts of the fire literally unscathed. Nearby evidence indicated that surface temperatures of the main fire reached 1500-1800°F and that the main fire covered 3000 acres in ten minutes or less."</ref> All twelve of the crewmen who failed to reach the ridge perished in the inferno. Had they been able to grasp what their foreman was doing, or obeyed his commands, they probably would have survived.<ref>Maclean, 2017. p. 111</ref>

Dodge found the badly injured Joseph B. Sylvia just 100 yards (30 meters) to the east of the escape fire. He made Sylvia as comfortable as he could and provided him with water. Dodge departed to seek medical assistance for him.<ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 567: "Soon after hearing a voice to the east, he discovered crew member Joe Sylvia who was badly burned. Dodge moved Sylvia to a large rock, removed his boots and gave him his canteen. He then departed to seek medical help for Sylvia."</ref>

Sallee and Ramsey discovered the badly burned Hellman just 90 feet (28 meters) west of their position and helped him to the blockfield. Dodge joined them shortly thereafter, and he and Salle descended Rescue Gulch to the Missouri River. Ramsey remained with Hellman.

'''8:50 pm''' – Dodge and Sallee reached the Meriwether Guard Station after flagging down a boat and radioed for assistance.

'''11:30 pm''' – Two medical doctors from St. Peters Hospital in Helena were escorted up Rescue Gulch by Dodge and Sallee. Sylvia and Hellman were administered plasma and morphine and their wounds dressed.<ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 568: "Dodge and Sallee reached Meriwether Guard Station at about 8:50 p.m. after hiking down Rescue Gulch and flagging down a boat. By 11:30 p.m., Jansson and Sallee were leading a rescue party, including two doctors, up Rescue Gulch. The doctors treated Hellman and Sylvia with plasma and morphine, and dressed their wounds.</ref>

'''6 August 1949'''

'''Daylight''' – The two injured smokejumpers were carried by stretcher to the mouth of Mann Gulch and transported by boat to St. Peters Hospital in Helena. Both Sylvia and Hellman had suffered third degree burns over 65% to 85% of their bodies, as well as severe damage to their respiratory systems. They both died later that morning.<ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. 568: "Soon after daylight on 6 August, both were carried on stretchers to the mouth of Mann Gulch where they were transported by boat and subsequently by ambulance to St. Peters Hospital in Helena. Both died later that day of massive third degree burns (65-85% of their bodies) and heat-induced damage to their respiratory systems.</ref>

The eleven other smokejumpers – Robert Bennett, Eldon Diettert, Phillip McVey, David Navon, Leonard Piper, Stanley Reba, Marvin Sherman, Henry Thol, Jr., Newton Thompson, and Silas Thompson, as well as recreation guard James Harrison are believed to have succumbed quickly from asphyxiation and burns they suffered shortly after 6:00 pm on 5 August.<ref>Lillquist, 2006. p. "All other members of the crew-Robert Bennett, Eldon Diettert, Phillip McVey, David Navon, Leonard Piper, Stanley Reba, Marvin Sherman, Henry Thol, Jr., Newton Thompson, and Silas Thompson, as well as James Harrison (Figures 2 and 4; Table 2)-perished immediately in the fire. Death likely came very rapidly to these men as the result of suffocation due to consumption of oxygen by the fire.</ref>


== Findings ==
== Findings ==


=== Casualties ===
=== Casualties ===
[[File:SYLVIA Joseph B memorial at Mann Gulch fire site Montana.png|thumb|right|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.]]
[[File:Mann Gulch Fire, 1949 US Forest Service Smokejumpers - Memorial photos, 13 victims.jpg|thumb|degree=270|600px| Mann Gulch Fire, 1949 US Forest Service Smokejumpers - Memorial photos, 13 victims]]
Those that were killed by the fire:
Those that were killed by the fire:
*Robert J. Bennett, age 22, from Paris, Tennessee
*Robert J. Bennett, age 22, from Paris, Tennessee
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*Newton R. Thompson, age 23, from Alhambra, California
*Newton R. Thompson, age 23, from Alhambra, California
*Silas R. Thompson, age 21, from Charlotte, North Carolina
*Silas R. Thompson, age 21, from Charlotte, North Carolina
Those that survived:
Those that survived:
*R. Wagner "Wag" Dodge, Missoula SJ foreman, age 33 at the time of the fire. Dodge died 5 years after the fire from [[Hodgkin's lymphoma|Hodgkin's disease]].
*R. Wagner (Wag) Dodge, Missoula SJ foreman, age 33 at the time of the fire. Wag died 5 years after the fire from Hodgkin's disease.
*Walter B. Rumsey, age 21 at time of the fire, from Larned, Kansas. Rumsey died in an airplane crash in 1980, age 52.
*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 smoke jumpers. Died May 29, 2014.
*Robert W. Sallee, youngest man on the crew, age 17 at time of the fire, from Willow Creek, Montana. Last survivor of the smoke jumpers. Died May 29, 2014.

[[File:SYLVIA Joseph B memorial at Mann Gulch fire site Montana.png|thumb|left|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.]]
Much controversy surrounded Foreman Dodge and the fire he lit to escape. In answering the questions of the Forest Service Review Board as to why he took the actions he did, Dodge stated he had never heard of such a fire being set; it had just seemed "logical" to him. In fact, it was not a method that the forest service had considered, nor would it work in the intense heat of the normal tall growth forest fires that they typically fought. Similar types of escape fires had been used by the plains [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indians]] to escape the fast-moving, brief duration grass fires of the plains, and the method had been written about by [[James Fenimore Cooper]] (1827) in ''[[The Prairie]]'', but in this case Foreman Dodge appears to have invented it on the spot, as the only means available to him to save his crew. None of the men realized what it was and only Dodge was saved by it.
Much controversy surrounded Foreman Dodge and the fire he lit to escape. In answering the questions of the Forest Service Review Board as to why he took the actions he did, Dodge stated he had never heard of such a fire being set; it had just seemed "logical" to him. In fact, it was not a method that the forest service had considered, nor would it work in the intense heat of the normal tall growth forest fires that they typically fought. Similar types of escape fires had been used by the plains [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indians]] to escape the fast-moving, brief duration grass fires of the plains, and the method had been written about by [[James Fenimore Cooper]] (1827) in ''[[The Prairie]]'', but in this case Foreman Dodge appears to have invented it on the spot, as the only means available to him to save his crew. None of the men realized what it was and only Dodge was saved by it.


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There was some controversy about the fire, with a few parents of the men trying to sue the government. One charge was that the "escape fire" had actually burned the men.
There was some controversy about the fire, with a few parents of the men trying to sue the government. One charge was that the "escape fire" had actually burned the men.


Lessons learned from the Mann Gulch fire had a significant effect on firefighter training. Two training protocols—"[[Ten Standard Firefighting Orders]]" and "Eighteen Situations That Shout Watch Out"—were incorporated into Forest Service firefighter training program, and safety training made mandatory to achieve certification to work on a fire line. However, the training methodology proved inadequate and the tragedy would be repeated twice, in the 1990 [[Dude fire]] in Arizona, which killed six firefighters, and in the 1994 [[South Canyon Fire]] in Colorado, in which 14 firefighters died. A primary factor in the latter appeared to be surprise of the sudden transition from surface fire to crown fire, leading to the development and adoption of LCES, an acronym for a four-point safety procedure to increase observance of the previous training protocols. LCES consists of posting lookouts, providing all firefighters radio communication with lookouts, identifying escape routes, and designating valid safety zones, and ensuring that all members of the process, from "hotshot" crews to seasonal [[Handcrew|Type 2 crew]] volunteers to "crew bosses", understand and follow its tenets.<ref>Matthews (2007), pp. 222–225</ref>
Lessons learned from the Mann Gulch fire had a significant effect on firefighter training. Two training protocols—"[[Ten Standard Firefighting Orders]]" and "Eighteen Situations That Shout Watch Out"—were incorporated into Forest Service firefighter training program, and safety training made mandatory to achieve certification to work on a fire line. However, the training methodology proved inadequate and the tragedy would be repeated twice, in the 1990 [[Dude fire]] in Arizona, which killed six firefighters, and in the 1994 [[South Canyon Fire]] in Colorado, in which 14 firefighters died. A primary factor in the latter appeared to be surprise of the sudden transition from surface fire to crown fire, leading to the development and adoption of LCES, an acronym for a four-point safety procedure to increase observance of the previous training protocols. LCES consists of posting ''lookouts'', providing all firefighters radio ''communication'' with lookouts, identifying ''escape routes'', and designating valid ''safety zones'', and ensuring that all members of the process, from "hotshot" crews to seasonal [[Handcrew|Type 2 crew]] volunteers to "crew bosses", understand and follow its tenets.<ref>Matthews (2007), pp. 222–225</ref>


=== Contributing factors ===
=== Contributing factors ===
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==Folk songs==
==Folk songs==
[[James Keelaghan]] wrote a song about this fire entitled "Cold Missouri Waters" after being inspired by ''Young Men and Fire''. The song was [[Cover version|covered]] by [[Richard Shindell]], [[Dar Williams]], and [[Lucy Kaplansky]] on their album ''[[Cry Cry Cry]]''. It was also covered by [[Hank Cramer]] in his album, ''Days Gone By''. It was again recorded by [[Paul McKenna Band]] on their 2012 album "Elements". A cover version also appears on the 2014 album "The Call", by [[Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar]]. In 2016, Irish singer [[Pauline Scanlon]] covered the song on her album ''Gossamer''. It is sung from the perspective of foreman Dodge, lying on his deathbed dying of Hodgkin's disease five years after the fire. It imagines Dodge saying of his decision to set the escape fire:
[[James Keelaghan]] wrote a song about this fire entitled "Cold Missouri Waters" after being inspired by ''Young Men and Fire''. The song was [[Cover version|covered]] by [[Richard Shindell]], [[Dar Williams]], and [[Lucy Kaplansky]] on their album ''[[Cry Cry Cry]]''. It was also covered by [[Hank Cramer]] in his album, ''Days Gone By''. It was again recorded by [[Paul McKenna Band]] on their 2012 album ”Elements”. A cover version also appears on the 2014 album ”The Call”, by [[Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar]]. In 2016, Irish singer [[Pauline Scanlon]] covered the song on her album ''Gossamer''. It is sung from the perspective of foreman Dodge, lying on his deathbed dying of Hodgkin's disease five years after the fire. It imagines Dodge saying of his decision to set the escape fire:


"I don't know why, I just thought it. I struck a match to waist-high grass, running out of time. Tried to tell them, 'Step into this fire I set. We can't make it, this is the only chance you'll get.' But they cursed me, ran for the rocks above instead. I lay face down and prayed above the cold Missouri waters."
"I don't know why, I just thought it. I struck a match to waist-high grass, running out of time. Tried to tell them, 'Step into this fire I set. We can't make it, this is the only chance you'll get.' But they cursed me, ran for the rocks above instead. I lay face down and prayed above the cold Missouri waters."
Line 243: Line 121:
The song also has been recorded on Black Irish Band's album "Into the Fire" released in 2007. The album is all songs about firefighters. The album also features Michael Martin Murphey. Underneath Montana Skies is another song about the Mann Gulch fire<ref>/http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/blackirishband7</ref> written by Patrick Michael Karnahan also on this album.
The song also has been recorded on Black Irish Band's album "Into the Fire" released in 2007. The album is all songs about firefighters. The album also features Michael Martin Murphey. Underneath Montana Skies is another song about the Mann Gulch fire<ref>/http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/blackirishband7</ref> written by Patrick Michael Karnahan also on this album.


The song was revived as a tribute to the 19 firefighters who died in the massive [[Yarnell Hill Fire]] near [[Yarnell, Arizona]] in 2013.<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/07/02/folk-song-wildfire-tribute/2484881/ Folk tune becomes tribute to fallen Arizona firefighters], USA Today, July 2, 2013</ref>
The song was revived as a tribute to the 19 firefighters who died in the massive [[Yarnell Hill Fire]] near [[Yarnell, Arizona]] in 2013.<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/07/02/folk-song-wildfire-tribute/2484881/ Folk tune becomes tribute to fallen Arizona firefighters], USA Today, July 2, 2013 </ref>

The song was recorded for the second album from The Maguire Brothers, a Kansas City, KS based Irish style band in 2017.<ref>{{Citation|title=♫ Paddy Dies at the End - The Maguire Brothers. Listen @cdbaby|url=https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/maguirebrothers|access-date=2018-09-19}}</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==
Line 252: Line 128:


== References ==
== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}
===Footnotes===

{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
* Lillquist, Karl. 2006. ''Teaching with Catastrophe: Topographic Map Interpretation and the Physical Geography of the 1949 Mann Gulch'', Montana Wildfire Journal of Geoscience Education, 54:5, 561-571, DOI: 10.5408/1089-9995-54.5.561 http://www.nagt.org/files/nagt/jge/abstracts/lillquist-v54p561.pdf Retrieved 28 August 2018.
* {{cite book | author=[[Norman Maclean|Maclean, Norman]] | title=[[Young Men and Fire]] | publisher=University Of Chicago Press | year=1992 | isbn=0-226-50061-6}}[http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/500616.html]
* Rothermel, Robert C. 1993. ''Mann Gulch Fire: A Race That Couldn't Be Won''. United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Intermountain Research Station.General Technical Report INT-299. May 1993 https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_int/int_gtr299.pdf Retrieved 28 August 2018.
* US Forest Service. ''Mann Gulch''. Department of Agriculture. https://www.fs.fed.us/science-technology/fire/people-working-fire/smokejumpers/smokejumper-base-contact-information/missoula-smokejumpers/history/gulch Retrieved 28 August 2018.


==External resources==
==External resources==
Line 270: Line 138:
* {{cite journal | author=Weick, Karl E. | title=The Collapse of Sensemaking in Organizations: The Mann Gulch Disaster | journal=[[Administrative Science Quarterly]] | year=1993 | volume=38 | pages=628–652 | doi=10.2307/2393339 | jstor=2393339 | issue=4 | publisher= }}
* {{cite journal | author=Weick, Karl E. | title=The Collapse of Sensemaking in Organizations: The Mann Gulch Disaster | journal=[[Administrative Science Quarterly]] | year=1993 | volume=38 | pages=628–652 | doi=10.2307/2393339 | jstor=2393339 | issue=4 | publisher= }}
* [http://fhsarchives.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/august-5-1949-mann-gulch-tragedy/ "August 5, 1949: Mann Gulch Tragedy"]. Peeling Back the Bark blog, the [[Forest History Society]].
* [http://fhsarchives.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/august-5-1949-mann-gulch-tragedy/ "August 5, 1949: Mann Gulch Tragedy"]. Peeling Back the Bark blog, the [[Forest History Society]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120430212256/http://www.wildfirelessons.net/additional.aspx?page=171 Wildfire Lessons from Mann Gulch Fire]
* [http://www.wildfirelessons.net/additional.aspx?page=171 Wildfire Lessons from Mann Gulch Fire]


==External links==
==External links==

Revision as of 03:54, 7 January 2019

Mann Gulch Wildfire Historic District
Investigators stand on the steep, now barren, north slope of Mann Gulch.
Mann Gulch fire is located in Montana
Mann Gulch fire
Mann Gulch fire is located in the United States
Mann Gulch fire
Nearest cityHelena, Montana
Area1,195 acres (484 ha)
Built1949
NRHP reference No.99000596[1]
Added to NRHPMay 19, 1999

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 state of Montana in the United States. 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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[2]: p.155 

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.[1]

Sequence of events

The fire started when lightning struck the south side of Mann Gulch at the Gates of the Mountains, a canyon over five miles long that cuts through a series of 1,200 foot cliffs.[4][5] The place was noted and named by Lewis and Clark on their journey west in 1805.[6] The fire was spotted by forest ranger James O. Harrison around noon on August 5, 1949. Harrison, a college student at Montana State University, was working the summer as recreation and fire prevention guard for the Meriwether Canyon Campground. He had been a smokejumper the previous year but had given it up because of the danger.[7] As a ranger, he still had a responsibility to watch for and help fight fires, but it was not his primary role.[8] On this day, he fought the fire on his own for four hours before he met the crew of smokejumpers who had been dispatched from Hale Field, Missoula, Montana, in a Douglas DC-3.

It was hot, with a temperature of 97 °F, and the fire danger rating was high, rated 74 out of a possible 100.[2]: p.42 [5][9] Wind conditions were turbulent. The plane flight was especially rough. One smokejumper got sick on the way and did not jump, returning with the airplane to Hale Field. Getting off the plane, he resigned from the smokejumpers. The remaining 15 smokejumpers parachuted into an open area at the top of the gulch. Below them, they could see the fire burning on the south ridge further down toward the Missouri River. Gear and individual jumpers were scattered widely due to the conditions. Their radio was destroyed after its parachute failed to open.[10] After the smokejumpers had landed, a shout was heard coming from the front of the fire. The foreman, Wagner "Wag" Dodge, went out ahead to find the person shouting and to scout the fire. He left instructions for the team to finish gathering their equipment and eat, and then to cross the gully to the south slope and advance to the front of the fire. The voice turned out to be Jim Harrison who had been fighting the fire by himself for the past four hours.[5][11]

The two headed back up the gulch with Dodge noting that you could not get closer to within 100 feet of the fire due to the heat. The crew met Dodge and Harrison about half way to the fire. Dodge instructed the team to move off the front of the fire, and instead move down the gulch and cross over to the thinly-forested and grass-covered north slope of the gulch; "sidehilling" (keeping the same contour or elevation) and moving "down gulch" towards the Missouri River. They could then fight the fire from the flank and steer it to a low-fuel area. Dodge returned with Harrison to the supply area at the top of the gulch. The two stopped there to eat. From the high vantage point, Dodge noticed the smoke along the fire front boiling up indicating an intensification of the heat of the fire. He and Harrison headed down the gulch to catch up with the crew.

The "blow up"

Mann Gulch today, north slope on the left side of photo

By the time Dodge reached his men, the fire at the bottom of the gulch had already jumped from the south ridge to the bottom of the north slope. The intense heat combined with wind coming off the river and pushed the flames up-gulch into the dry grass of the north slope causing what fire fighters call a "blow up". Various side ridges running down the north slope obscuring the crew's view, so they could not see the conditions further down the gulch, and they initially continued down toward the fire. When Dodge finally got a glimpse of what was happening below, he turned the men around and started them angling back up the gulch. Within a couple hundred yards, he ordered the men to drop packs and heavy tools (Pulaskis, shovels and crosscut saws):

Dodge's order was to throw away just their packs and heavy tools, but to his surprise some of them had already thrown away all of their heavy equipment. On the other hand, some of them wouldn't abandon their heavy tools, even after Dodge's order. Diettert, one of the most intelligent of the crew, continued carrying both his tools until Rumsey caught up with him, took his shovel and leaned it against a pine tree. Just a little further on, Rumsey and Sallee pass the recreation guard, Jim Harrison, who, having been on the fire all afternoon, was now exhausted. He was sitting with his heavy pack on and was making no effort to take it off[2]: p.42 [12]

By this point, the fire was moving extremely fast up the 76% north slope (37.23 degree slope) of Mann gulch and Dodge realized they would not be able to make the ridge line in front of the fire. With the fire less than a hundred yards behind, he took a match out and set fire to the grass just before them. In doing so, he was attempting to create an escape fire to lie in so that the main fire would burn around him and his crew. In the back draft of the main fire, the grass fire set burned straight up toward the ridge above. Turning to the three men by him – Robert Sallee, Walter Rumsey and Eldon Diettert – Dodge said "Up this way", but the men misunderstood him. The three ran straight up for the ridge crest, moving up along the far edge of Dodge's fire. Sallee later said he wasn't sure what Dodge was doing, and thought perhaps he intended the fire to act as a buffer between the men and the main fire. It was not until he got to the ridge crest and looked back down that he realized what Dodge had intended. As the rest of the crew came up, Dodge tried to direct them through the fire he had set and into the center burnt out area. Dodge later stated that someone, possibly squad leader William Hellman, said "To hell with that, I'm getting out of here". The rest of the team raced on past Dodge up the side of the slope toward the hogback of Mann Gulch ridge, hoping they had enough time to get through the rock ridge line and over to safer ground on the other side. None of the men racing up before the fire entered into the escape fire.

Immediate outcome

Four of the men reached the ridge crest, but only two, Bob Sallee and Walter Rumsey, managed to escape through a crevice or deep fissure in the rock ridge to reach the other side. In the dense smoke of the fire, the two had no way of knowing if the crevice they found actually "went through" to the other side or would be a blind trap. Diettert had been just to the right, slightly upgulch of Sallee and Rumsey, but he did not drop back to the crevice and continued on up the right side of the hogback. He did not find another escape route and was overtaken by the fire. Sallee and Rumsey came through the hogback to the ridge crest above what became known as Rescue Gulch. Dropping down off the ridge, they managed to find a rock slide with little to no vegetation. They waited there for the fire to overtake them, moving from the bottom of the slide to the top as the fire moved past. Hellman was caught by the fire on the top of the ridge and was badly burned. Though he and Joseph Sylvia initially survived the fire, they suffered heavy injuries and both died in hospital the next day. Wag Dodge entered the charred center of the escape fire he had built and survived the intensely burning main fire.[10]

In Young Men and Fire, Maclean stated that when the fire passed over Dodge's position, "he was lifted off the ground two or three times."[2]: p.106  Later researchers repeated the claim.[10] However, this statement was an exaggeration. Dodge actually wrote, in his statement to the board of review, "There were three extreme gusts of hot air that almost lifted me from the ground as the fire passed over"[13][14] In another description of Dodge's ordeal, John Maclean said, "as the main fire passed, it [the fire] picked him up and shook him like a dog with a bone."[15]

Although Young Men and Fire attributed the story to Earl Cooley, the spotter and kicker aboard the airplane,[14]: p.83  it actually originated with C.E. "Mike" Hardy, who was the head of the litter bearers collecting the bodies the day after the disaster.[16] Hardy assisted Norman Maclean in his research and accompanied him on a trip to the site.[2]: p.157 

It was originally thought that the unburned patches underneath the bodies indicated they had suffocated for lack of air before the fire caught them.[17] This is another fallacy. In modern fire science, the unburned patches are called protected areas.[18] The firefighters' bodies protected these areas by shielding from the intense thermal radiation, by keeping out hot gases, and absorbing heat. All of these factors kept the grass and forest litter unburned where they were lying. It is now known that death by smoke and toxic gas inhalation, while common in structure fires because of the confined atmosphere, is virtually nonexistent among wildland fire fatalities.[19]

Timing

The events described above all transpired in a relatively short period of time. Everyone had jumped by around 4:10 p.m. The scattered cargo had been gathered at about 5:00 p.m. At about 5:45 p.m., the crew had seen the fire coming up towards them on the north slope and had turned to run. By four minutes to 6:00, the fire had swept over them. The time at which the fire engulfed the men was judged by the melted hands on Harrison's pocketwatch, forever frozen at 5:56 p.m. by the intense heat. 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. Thirteen firefighters died, with eleven killed in the fire itself and two who sustained fatal burns. Only three of the sixteen survived.

Findings

Casualties

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.

Those that 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, 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 that survived:

  • R. Wagner (Wag) Dodge, Missoula SJ foreman, age 33 at the time of the fire. Wag died 5 years after the fire from Hodgkin's disease.
  • 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 smoke jumpers. Died May 29, 2014.

Much controversy surrounded Foreman Dodge and the fire he lit to escape. In answering the questions of the Forest Service Review Board as to why he took the actions he did, Dodge stated he had never heard of such a fire being set; it had just seemed "logical" to him. In fact, it was not a method that the forest service had considered, nor would it work in the intense heat of the normal tall growth forest fires that they typically fought. Similar types of escape fires had been used by the plains Indians to escape the fast-moving, brief duration grass fires of the plains, and the method had been written about by James Fenimore Cooper (1827) in The Prairie, but in this case Foreman Dodge appears to have invented it on the spot, as the only means available to him to save his crew. None of the men realized what it was and only Dodge was saved by it.

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

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 is on exhibit in Missoula at the Museum of Mountain Flying. The aircraft was restored and now serves as a memorial to the Smokejumpers and the Fire Guard that lost their lives at Mann Gulch on August 5, 1949.

Aftermath

Commemorative sign at Mann Gulch

Four hundred fifty men fought for five more days to get the fire under control, which had spread to 4,500 acres (1,800 ha).

Wagner Dodge survived unharmed and died five years later of Hodgkin's disease.

Thirteen crosses were erected to mark the locations where the thirteen firefighters who died fighting the Mann Gulch fire fell. However, one of the smokejumpers who died in the Mann Gulch fire was David Navon, who was Jewish. In 2001 the cross marking the location where Navon died was replaced with a marker bearing a Star of David.[20]

Several months following the fire, fire scientist Harry Gisborne, from the U.S. Forest Service Research Center at Priest River, came to examine the damage. Despite a history of heart problems, he nevertheless conducted an on-ground survey of the fire site. He suffered a heart attack and died while finishing the day's research. Gisborne had forwarded theories as to the cause of the blowup prior to his arrival on site. Once there, he discovered several conditions, which caused him to change his concepts of fire activity, particularly those pertaining to fire "blow-ups". He noted this to his companion just before his death on November 9, 1949.

There was some controversy about the fire, with a few parents of the men trying to sue the government. One charge was that the "escape fire" had actually burned the men.

Lessons learned from the Mann Gulch fire had a significant effect on firefighter training. Two training protocols—"Ten Standard Firefighting Orders" and "Eighteen Situations That Shout Watch Out"—were incorporated into Forest Service firefighter training program, and safety training made mandatory to achieve certification to work on a fire line. However, the training methodology proved inadequate and the tragedy would be repeated twice, in the 1990 Dude fire in Arizona, which killed six firefighters, and in the 1994 South Canyon Fire in Colorado, in which 14 firefighters died. A primary factor in the latter appeared to be surprise of the sudden transition from surface fire to crown fire, leading to the development and adoption of LCES, an acronym for a four-point safety procedure to increase observance of the previous training protocols. LCES consists of posting lookouts, providing all firefighters radio communication with lookouts, identifying escape routes, and designating valid safety zones, and ensuring that all members of the process, from "hotshot" crews to seasonal Type 2 crew volunteers to "crew bosses", understand and follow its tenets.[21]

Contributing factors

Several factors that combined to create the disaster are described in Norman Maclean's book Young Men and Fire.

  • Slope – Fire spreads faster up a slope, and the north slope of Mann Gulch was about a 75% incline. Slope also makes it very difficult to run.
  • Fuel – Fire spreads fast in dry grass. The north slope of Mann Gulch was mostly knee high cheatgrass, an especially volatile fuel, and the entire area had been left ungrazed because it had been recently designated a wildlife area and closed to local cattle.
  • Leadership – Dodge did not know most of the crew, as he had been doing base maintenance work during the normal training and "get acquainted" time of the season. This may have contributed to the crew not trusting his "escape fire." Furthermore, Dodge left his crew for several minutes, during which the second-in-command let them spread out instead of staying together.
  • Communication – The crew's single radio broke because its parachute failed to open. It could have possibly prevented the disaster or helped get aid more quickly to the two burned men who died later. There were other dangerous fires going on at the same time and Forest Service leaders did not know what was happening on Mann Gulch.
  • Weather – The season was very dry and that day was extremely hot. Winds in the Gulch were also strong "up gulch'" the same direction in which the men tried to run.

Young Men and Fire

Mann Gulch, looking southeast from Missouri River. The fire came down off the near end of the ridge on the right into the gulch and "blew up", overtaking the fleeing smokejumper crew on the west side.

The Mann Gulch Fire was the subject of Norman Maclean's book Young Men and Fire,[22] which was published after his death. The book won the National Book Critics Circle Award for non-fiction in 1992.

Norman Maclean's son John wrote a book in 2003 titled Fire and Ashes: On the Front Lines Battling Wildfires, and it also includes a section on the Mann Gulch fire. In 2004, John N. Maclean also published an article called "Fire and Ashes: The Last Survivor of the Mann Gulch Fire," in Montana: The Magazine of Western History. The article was adapted from the Mann Gulch section of his book, in which he interviewed Bob Sallee, the last remaining survivor of the fire.[23]

Folk songs

James Keelaghan wrote a song about this fire entitled "Cold Missouri Waters" after being inspired by Young Men and Fire. The song was covered by Richard Shindell, Dar Williams, and Lucy Kaplansky on their album Cry Cry Cry. It was also covered by Hank Cramer in his album, Days Gone By. It was again recorded by Paul McKenna Band on their 2012 album ”Elements”. A cover version also appears on the 2014 album ”The Call”, by Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar. In 2016, Irish singer Pauline Scanlon covered the song on her album Gossamer. It is sung from the perspective of foreman Dodge, lying on his deathbed dying of Hodgkin's disease five years after the fire. It imagines Dodge saying of his decision to set the escape fire:

"I don't know why, I just thought it. I struck a match to waist-high grass, running out of time. Tried to tell them, 'Step into this fire I set. We can't make it, this is the only chance you'll get.' But they cursed me, ran for the rocks above instead. I lay face down and prayed above the cold Missouri waters."

Ross Brown, a musician/songwriter from Townsend, MT (about 35 miles south of Helena) wrote another song entitled "The Mann Gulch." A scratch version of this song is available on YouTube.

The song also has been recorded on Black Irish Band's album "Into the Fire" released in 2007. The album is all songs about firefighters. The album also features Michael Martin Murphey. Underneath Montana Skies is another song about the Mann Gulch fire[24] written by Patrick Michael Karnahan also on this album.

The song was revived as a tribute to the 19 firefighters who died in the massive Yarnell Hill Fire near Yarnell, Arizona in 2013.[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Maclean, Norman. Young Men and Fire (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993). ISBN 0-226-50061-6
  3. ^ National Book Critics Circle. All Past National Book Critics Circle Award Winners and Finalists. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  4. ^ "Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology: Lewis and Clark in Montana – a geologic perspective". Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c Weick, Karl E. (1993). "The Collapse of Sensemaking in Organizations: The Mann Gulch Disaster". Administrative Science Quarterly. 38 (4): 628–652. doi:10.2307/2393339. JSTOR 2393339.
  6. ^ "Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings: Gates of the Rocky Mountains". Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  7. ^ "US Forest Service History, Mann Gulch Fire". Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  8. ^ Matthews, Mark (2007). A Great Day to Fight a Fire: Mann Gulch, 1949. University Of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3857-2., p. 31.
  9. ^ Lillquist, Karl (2006). "Teaching with catastrophe: Topographic map interpretation and the physical geography of the 1949 Mann Gulch, Montana wildfire" (PDF). Journal of Geoscience Education. 54 (5): 561–571. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  10. ^ a b c Rothermel, Richard C. "The Mann Gulch Fire: A Race That Couldn't be Won" (PDF). Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-299. USDA Forestry Service. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  11. ^ Turner, Dave (1999). "The Thirteenth Fire" (PDF). Forest History Today (Spring): 26–28. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  12. ^ Weick, Karl E. (1996). "Drop Your Tools: An Allegory for Organizational Studies". Administrative Science Quarterly. 41 (2): 301–313. doi:10.2307/2393722. JSTOR 2393722.
  13. ^ Anon (August 14, 1949). "Dodge Describes Tragedy of Fire Fighters". The Missoulian. p. 1.
  14. ^ a b Cooley, Earl (1984). Trimotor and trail. Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing Co. p. 98. ISBN 0-87842-173-4.
  15. ^ Maclean, John (2004). Fire and Ashes. New York, NY: Owl Books/Henry Holt and Company LLC. p. 180. ISBN 0-8050-7591-7.
  16. ^ Alexander, Martin E.; Ackerman, Mark Y.; Baxter, Gregory J. "An Analysis of Dodge's Escape Fire on the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire in Terms of a Survival Zone for Wildland Firefighters" (PDF). Wildland Fire Information. FireWhat, Incorporated. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  17. ^ Lillquist, Karl (November 2006). "Teaching with Catastrophe: Topographic Map Interpretation and the Physical Geography of the 1949 Mann Gulch, Montana Wildfire". Journal of Geoscience Education. 54 (5): 561–571.
  18. ^ Anon (2014). NFPA 921, Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association. pp. 62–63. ISBN 978-145590862-2.
  19. ^ Shusterman, Dennis; Kaplan, Jerold Z.; Canabarro, Carla (February 1993). "Immediate Health Effects of an Urban Wildfire". Western Journal of Medicine. 158: 133–138.
  20. ^ A Star for David
  21. ^ Matthews (2007), pp. 222–225
  22. ^ Norman Maclean, Young Men and Fire (excerpt), 1992. Retrieved February 28, 2007.
  23. ^ Maclean, John N. (2004). "Fire + Ashes: The Last Survivor of The Mann Gulch Fire". Montana: The Magazine of Western History. 54 (3): 18–33. Retrieved October 25, 2006.
  24. ^ /http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/blackirishband7
  25. ^ Folk tune becomes tribute to fallen Arizona firefighters, USA Today, July 2, 2013

External resources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mann Gulch.

46°52′47″N 111°54′18″W / 46.8796°N 111.9049°W / 46.8796; -111.9049

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