The Smoke Jumper Tragedy of Mann Gulch (1949) A Wilderness Fire Disaster

On August 5th 1949, a crew of 15 fire fighters parachuted in to a remote canyon in Montana to fight a grass fire which was burning out of control. Although well trained and experienced, only three men would make it out of that canyon alive...
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Although focused primarily on disasters, this channel is all about the interesting, the strange, the unsolved, the tragic. Our world has a varied history full of terrible tragedies, bizarre tales, unexplained events, and extravagant people. I hope you enjoy some of the fascinating stories we have here.
#History #Disasters
Photo Credits - USFC, James MacLean, Steve Crampton

[@KBird-flylow]

I gotta say Wagner Dodge was something else. The fact that he improvised a survival technique while being chased by a wall of death is just mind blowing. The 'escape fire' was genius. I am sad the others didn't trust him or follow his lead but Credit where it is due

[@chatteyj]

Tbh I'm surprised it worked, I mean I know a fire break is one of the most effective form of fire barrier there is but in practice I'm surprised it worked in such a short window of time.

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

@@chatteyj Remember this was a grass fire, not a forest fire. Driven by wind, that burns all the dry fuel off VERY quickly, not like downed wood, allowing some clear ground to become available before the advancing fire over runs you. Of course that large mass of dry grass wouldn't have been there if the clear bottom lands had been still grazed. Many of the starry-eyed policies of over-fervent environment Messiahs often end up destroying much more of the "Wilderness" than if it were left to those who have survived in an area for long periods of time and are familiar with the seasonal problems. There's no teacher like experience!

[@lwalker8785]

Yes, and it's doubly tragic that he died from Hodgkin lymphoma just five years after surviving the fire.

[@johnr797]

@@chatteyj it's an (pardon the pun) elemental part of fire fighting that has been around for forever. I blame their training, honestly. He knew which way the wind was blowing, so it made perfect sense.

[@Utubesanarc]

Let me get this right he burned the ground around him so it wouldn't burn no more?

[@348Tobico]

P.S. Having gone to the gulch, there is a spatial foreshortening which telescopes in reverse the distances within the gulch. The sides are so steep as to only be climbable with the best of corked boots to have traction. Cheat grass is slippery when stepped on. The gulch is VERY long, but from the bottom, doesn't seem so. That surreal foreshortening of space makes you feel like you're in a funnel and you are making no progress upward to escape. Wag Dodge's black area has saved lives of fire fighters in dire situations ever since. Including my dad that drove the whole family to see if he could help!

[@sotagoat4623]

U dad a great guy to atleast offer to help. That a real man!!!

[@Tula-cs1ef]

I have a list of places I want to hike and going here to pay my respects is in the top twn

[@mcbassinfaas7285]

Huh

[@pikmaniac2643]

I took a college course on the history of humanity’s relation with fire, and Mann Gulch came up as a case study. Good to see it getting some more recognition.

[@348Tobico]

I feel your discomfort with close by forest fires. My childhood was spent in very dense forest in central lower peninsula Michigan. After watching the movie "Bambi" I had nightmares all the time. Playing at a stream on our property when I was 7, I saw a reflection of a very black cloud in the water. Yes, I was so scared I wet my pants, humiliating but true. I ran screaming home. If my parents had just evacuated like we were supposed to it would have been OK. BUT NO. Dad drove us to "see" the fire with 2 little kids in the car. I could still kill him over doing that. To this day I live in a forest interface area and am still terrified by fire. I won't camp in the woods. The weird twist is that my childhood home in the woods where I saw the smoke, was destroyed by fire--not the one when I was 7, but many years later. The only reason it didn't set off our own forestfire is it burned in winter when we had lots of snow and no foliage. Fire is no joke and people have died not heeding educated warnings. I am very glad to hear from you again and know you are safe. My prayers to God for those who are not.

[@simonbletsoe7059]

Was a forestry worker in NZ. Involved in a few fires. there. Lessons learnt from this fire where taught to me. Well researched with accurate terminology. Hope your all safe there, mate. Peace.

[@kiavonne]

My father was a smokejumper. Summers were (and are) dangerous. I was lucky, he came home every time. However, a lot of jumpers and other fire fighters did not. God bless them all. Thank you for spotlighting this story.

[@playgroundchooser]

My house is about 20 miles from Mann Gulch in Helena. My grampa knew some of the victims, and told us the story long ago. The way it effected him still makes this story powerful to me all these years later. 😞😞

[@HersheyBARZ_]

My cousin worked as Forest Service Fire Fighter in Oregon. He has the most crazy stories as the fire, breaths, screeches, screams, and roars. It feels & acts alive, indiscriminately consuming everything in their path! It took me almost losing my house in the Bastrop, TX Complex Fire to see fire act the way he described it. Firefighters are a special breed of brave.

[@tikitavi7120]

People say tornadoes are terrifying, but seeing a raging wildfire coming at you faster than you can run can only be matched by the experience of being shot at.

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

Out west, we can get fire tornadoes. Wild fires can get so big, they create their own climate.

[@davejones9469]

@@jed-henrywitkowski6470 The mountains can help with that, as well as several small fires spontaneously creating vortices. *When I say the mountains can help with that, I mean with a constant flow of cold, fresh air coming down from the top, not fucking "mountain tornadoes" which are nothing more than freak events. Read the thread for an interesting objection... You can do this at home with candles. Light about 5 and move them together into a roughly circular shape, and the flames will eventually merge and make a fire tornado.

[@grmpEqweer]

I believe you. And I've seen two funnel clouds on two separate occasions.

[@macaylacayton2915]

i wonder how terrifying both at the same time would be

[@davejones9469]

@@macaylacayton2915 If a fire hit a stockpile of ammunition, it could start going off, sending bullets in all directions.

[@jenniferk9242]

Thank you for telling us the story of these remarkable young men. It was a harrowing tale to listen to and a wonderful tribute. You do them justice.

[@theravenseye9443]

Thanks - stories like these deserve to be retold I think.

[@McMahonshaun]

Reminds me of the film about Ned Kelly. The scene immediately comes to mind. He most likely knew that was a last ditch tactic to safe yourself from a wildfire. Start one in front and follow the one behind will extinguish due to lack of fuel from the first fire in front. I imagine its supposed to be done with more foresight than the situation allowed these poor fellows.

[@davejones9469]

Basically an improvised controlled burn, like most farmers around the world do. They don't have money for the massive, expensive equipment that clears dead crops in the western world. They banned controlled burns in Australia, and guess what? Massive forest fires started happening everywhere lol. Politicians and activists are idiots.

[@BekaJadexoxo]

It's definitely something I had heard of living in australia, growing up in an area with frequent bushfires (and having parents in the rural fire brigade)

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

The nature of a "Last ditch effort" is such that you just don't get a hell of a lot of foresight for it. You just have a choice and something KNOWN to you that "might actually work" or that "has worked before". The reality is that in those situations, it's "Do or die time" and that's all you get, a matter of seconds most of the time, and rarely, if you're very lucky, even a few minutes to reach the decision for better or worse. Most of the time, for most people, however... If you still have a few minutes, you should be spending all your energy and those minutes trying to do the job, and NOT on thinking about last ditch efforts... ;o)

[@davejones9469]

@@gnarthdarkanen7464 The Kobiyashi Maru...

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

@@davejones9469 Among others... ;o)

[@Lazy_Tim]

As an Australian this "job" sounds suicidal to me!

[@ravenfeader]

As a ex CFS volunteer you're correct . After Ash Wednesday and driving the truck into a local dam for survival we all thought we were gone . We are nothing compared to a wild fire .

[@Lazy_Tim]

@@ravenfeader I was just a young boy on ash Wednesday but I remember that years summer well. I was hell.

[@ravenfeader]

@@Lazy_Tim When horses and cattle are dropping dead everywhere as your racing the truck through everything before the flames even got close and hitting the water flat out in the truck . I thought it was the end and nearly drowned holding myself under water as the flames raced over . The noise it made was deafening . Hell in real time for this 22yr old .

[@chatteyj]

@@ravenfeader sounds scary

[@ravenfeader]

@@chatteyj I worked on the same property 7yrs ago and walked the new owner through the event for the day and the scared landscape is still there in the trees and rocks and destroyed machinery and the beautiful dam . The fire lookout has been rebuilt as a monument on the original spot on his hill . We lived and life goes on .

[@dogned]

I have just binged you’re entire channel in the past 2 days. What an epic ride and I’m looking forward to more content. First time I’ve actually subscribed and left notifications in all my 10 plus years on KZbin. Would love more unknown Aussie ones, I saw you briefly touched on the Granville train disaster which I’d not heard of before. Please don’t change the music behind the videos, it’s so eery but it suits them so well. Please continue with the great work!

[@theravenseye9443]

Thanks for the positive comment there - I am sure to cover more Aussie stories in the future.

[@XXSkunkWorksXX]

Seconded. Fantastic channel.

[@grapeshot]

This reminds me of an incident that took place in Colorado back in 1994. 12 smokejumpers were killed in western Colorado from a wildfire blast.

[@sammygirl6910]

I'd like to see that case covered. It's very interesting, considering how many ways it could have been prevented.

[@markkover8040]

Was that the Storm King Mountain fire? John Maclean wrote a very good book about that tragedy. A number of hot shot members and two helitac fire fighters were killed in it too.

[@brianrigsby7900]

What’s that mean? Did they drop a bomb on it or something? That’s the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word blast

[@op0614]

Actually it was 14 wasn't it?

[@Iamrightyouarewrong]

I was thinking of the Yarnell fire in AZ that killed 19 hotshots, in 2013.

[@RagingMoon1987]

I'm sorry to hear you had such a close call, but I'm glad it was a close call and nothing more. If you haven't yet (and you probably have), take a gander into the 1994 Storm King Mountain incident. The similarities between it and the Mann Gulch incident are freaky. Great video, once again!

[@theravenseye9443]

Thanks - came across the Storm King incident whilst doing the research for this video. I too was struck by the similarities.

[@aquachonk]

@@theravenseye9443 I had moved to Colorado shortly before the Storm King incident and knew several Hotshots (smoke jumpers) from my weightlifting gym who were well acquainted with the situation. They didn't like to talk about it, for obvious reasons, and I didn't press them. I've been trapped in gridlock traffic on Colorado's Interstate 70, hemmed in by cars in front of me, cars in back of me, and deep ditches on either side while apocalyptic orange flames shot out of the tops of Ponderosa pines just a few thousand feet away. No police, firefighters, or emergency agencies came to our aid, we were on our own and all we could do was roll up our windows, inch forward with the traffic, and pray. Fear doesn't describe it. I hear people's paint jobs buckled. Another time, I was four-wheelin' in the dry-as-hell back country when I saw a couple smokes (plumes of forest fires that have just begun) on the horizon. One of them suddenly billowed out into a massive cloud like a slow-motion nuclear blast. I was witnessing the onset of the infamous Hayman Fire of '02 and it was between me and home. I did some pretty fast driving down out of those hills to make it to safety before they closed the forest down. It turned out to be the largest forest fire to date and it was started by--get this--a forestry technician burning a letter in a campfire during a state-wide fire ban. Wildfires just went on and on that summer. The air was so thick with smoke and particulates, it destroyed engines and grounded flights. People were stuffing wet sheets under their windows and doors and the stuff still got in and settled over everything. The headline in the Rocky Mountain News was "All of Colorado is Burning." To this day, I can tell you with 100% accuracy if it's a campfire, a building fire, or a forest fire. There's just a certain smell.

[@parkersnowe]

The Thirtymile Fire on July 9, 2001 in the Okanogan National Forest, was pretty bad as well.

[@tommo9176]

Look up the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, Australia (where I live). Everything that could have gone wrong did. I was in Melbourne (the major city) and I'll never forget. The wind and heat was so strong that I was trying to walk through a small laneway between some skyscrapers. The wind carried the dust so fiercly, the heat so strong, that I remember the dirt on the road was flung across hitting your face as I tried to protect my face with my hands, but the dust hit you painfully. It was like a furnace. It was so hot that our train railway tracks across the city melted (seriously, they melted). The early warning system was 15-30 minutes delayed, the CFA (country fire authority)... everything that could have gone wrong did and a couple of hundred people died as people tried to escape the fire ran into each other due to them having 0 visibility due to the smoke. So there were roads with burnt out cars with bodies in them of families trying to escape. I'll never forget it. The wind and the fire was so strong that the fire lept across highways as if it was nothing. Ask any Victorian of that week in the lead up. I'll never, ever, ever forget it. There's some great docos even on youtube that show exactly how it occurred, hour by hour showing the fire spreading. Our new prime minister (who, in my opinion, would turn out to be a great PM), immediately visited the survivors most of who were just in shock, with some country towns wiped off the map. I mean we're used to fire, but no one was used to this.

[@ninianstorm6494]

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[@elizabethmarshall3558]

An excellent job sharing this sad and gripping story. I live in Montana and am the proud mom of three wildland firefighters. I know someone whose cousin died in Mann Gulch. The plane Miss Montana has been lovingly restored and lives in a hanger not far from my house.That plane has an interesting and unique drone when it flies. When I hear it overhead I always head out to salute. And Miss Montana participated in a reenactment of the invasion of Normandy Beach a couple of years ago.

[@msmongooseable]

I read Young Men and Fire a couple of years ago, fantastic and incredibly moving account of the event. I really reccomend the book, superb

[@Cruisey]

If you ever find yourself in a crisis with a man called Wagner Dodge, you should probably realise that the name alone has the power to get you out. 😂

[@asmrsona3170]

I found out about this tragedy several years ago from a little-known song called "Cold Missouri Waters" by the short-lived folk group Cry Cry Cry. It's a chillingly beautiful song from the perspective of a dying Dodge and it kept me company on many a road trip. I highly recommend listening to it if 90s folk music is your thing. I've also driven near the location of the fire while going up to a trailhead in the Helena. It is gorgeous, rugged country.

[@chriswhite2151]

I agree with this, it is one of the most touching songs I have ever heard. Richard Shindell, the author is a fantastic songwriter and singer.

[@keithmills778]

@@chriswhite2151Richard Shindell is a very good songwriter, but “Cold Missouri Waters” isn’t one of his songs. It was written by James Keelaghan , a Canadian singer-songwriter and former university classmate of mine.

[@MrTonaluv]

Did Wagner Dodge die? I thought he survived.

[@IcyWisdom]

A Beautiful told story but I wanted to add what happen to the guys that made after this accident so here it goes. R. Wagner (Wag) Dodge, Missoula SJ foreman, age 33 at the time of the fire. Dodge died five years after the fire from Hodgkin lymphoma. Walter B. Rumsey, age 21 at time of the fire, from Larned, Kansas. Rumsey died in an airplane crash in 1980, age 52. Robert W. Sallee, youngest man on the crew, age 17 at time of the fire, from Willow Creek, Montana. Last survivor of the smokejumpers; he died May 26, 2014 at age 82.

[@mick62569]

Forests need to burn. There no real good way to fight it need to just let it burn. Save all resource for search and rescue

[@anhedonianepiphany5588]

That’s true, with the exception of many rainforests. In Australia, our eucalypt forests _depend_ on fire for their natural cycle, but unfortunately we’re beginning to see fires take hold of rainforests that have stood for millennia. Ancient rainforests in other continents are also beginning to see this change, mainly due to human interference.

[@mick62569]

@@anhedonianepiphany5588 all forest need to burn. It is natue way. Yes humans are part of nature. Why as humans we think we have the power to control something that we will never have control of.

[@anhedonianepiphany5588]

@@mick62569 You should read my initial response again. Some miscomprehension has obviously occurred. As I attempted to explain, certain forests need to burn on a fairly regular basis (decades to centuries), and they are _adapted_ to that cycle, while others such as many rainforests are supposed to stand for millennia without being affected by fire, and are usually very resistant to it. I didn’t disagree with you, quite the contrary, though I’ve expanded on the specifics by providing relative timescales and given a basic explanation of these differences. To simplify, yes, all forests burn, though these fires are becoming less predictable due to them not following their _natural_ cycles. Many forests don’t _need_ to burn as often as they have been doing - that is my point.

[@mick62569]

@@anhedonianepiphany5588 my point is that they do need to burn just so human beings and rest of the natural world can benefit from it. Look it is all ready proven that preventing forest fire can be so countertuitive that it actually makes situations very much worse. And I'm not comfortable telling a group of third world people that they cannot raise their cattle because they don't have room cuz they cannot burn. What the hell are they supposed to do starve. The world's been burning since the beginning of time just let it burn let it do its thing that's what I'm saying.

[@reachandler3655]

I'd never heard of smokejumpers before, but I suspect we don't have them in UK. That was remarkably clear thinking from Dodge in such a harrowing situation, who knows how many lives that technique saved in the following decades! RIP to such brave young men.

[@anhedonianepiphany5588]

@@PaulRudd1941 Apparently the UK isn’t short of rainy days either.

[@reachandler3655]

@@PaulRudd1941 yeh, disgraceful isn't it?

[@AutumnRiot987]

My grandfather worked for the Forest Service in Montana in the 1950s, and was the one to place the original memorial markers by hauling them into the Gulch on mules and horseback. Thank you for highlighting this. My entire family has worked in and around wildfire over multiple generations, and the losses felt by the fire community stay with us.

[@MakeItWithCalvin]

PBS did a documentary "Fire Wars" that featured this and the whole story is tragic. At the time people blamed Dodge for killing the others with his backfire but in reality, if the others understood what he did, it is presumed they may have lived. The survivors credit his fire for helping them find a spot in the rocks to shelter. Another lasting legacy of that was the idea of "good black." Using already burnt areas as safety spots during a flareup.

[@medicman5278]

As a retired firefighter Young Men and Fire was required reading in the Fire Academy I attended. This is a very good documentary. Thank you for doing such a great job putting it together. Another required read was Fire On The Mountain which documents the south canyon fire on Storm King Mountain which sadly details the death of several smoke jumpers in 1994. Authored by Norman Macleans son John.

[@theravenseye9443]

Thanks for watching.

[@JWUniverse]

I know how you feel bro, we just had a fire this morning despite it being only 65 Degrees outside. But we’ve had Huge Terrible Fires one of which was in 2018 the Woolsey Fire Burned from Thousand Oaks all the way to the Malibu Coast. It killed 85 People, destroyed the Town of Paradise along with 1,643 Structures. You recalling this also makes me think of the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona back in 2013 that killed 19 Firefighters of a Hot Shots Crew! RIP to the them all!

[@ginmar8134]

That's terrifying.

[@thexen3120]

Excellent video and memorial to those brave boys.

[@grahamgordon9541]

Just a question from australia where we call them bushfires? do these smoke jumpers have to wear an extra parachute just to carry their balls .very brave and dedicated young men , and no doubt young women in this day and age.

[@amphiptered.5355]

That seems too extreme to be a summer job for a teen.

[@johnr797]

Especially for 12k

[@joynthis]

They don't exactly have all this figured out these days. The Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona killed 19 in 2013, and 14 died in Glenwood Springs Colorado in '94. There are still others since Mann Gulch.

[@anhedonianepiphany5588]

There will always be risks, and often casualties, regardless of the preparation, unfortunately. Australians have pretty much come to accept this.

[@missk8tie]

I had never heard of Smokejumpers until I visited Glacier National Park in Montana a few years ago. While I was there, a fire caused the evacuation of a portion of the park, and I learned that there were firefighters who regularly jumped out of planes to get to fires in otherwise inaccessible areas to hopefully contain them while they were still small, which totally blew my mind. While waiting for my flight out of Missoula, MT, I saw many books on Smokejumpers, but I picked "Young Men and Fire" because it was written by Norman Maclean, who wrote "A River Runs Through It," and it discusses this tragedy and the causes of it. It is a great book.

[@tatskichu]

Thank you for another good episode.

[@theravenseye9443]

You are welcome!

[@anikajain571]

This was a fascinating though tragic story, great work on the video and thankyou for telling these men's stories 👍 could you please in future leave the names of the victims on screen longer so they can easily be read, thanks RIP to these brave young men 🙏

[@theravenseye9443]

Sure - I always try to leave a short-ish time frame (if it is too brief, you should be able to pause the video, keeping the screen on for longer)

[@anikajain571]

@@theravenseye9443 hi, thanks for replying, usually I will pause the vid if I want or need to but unfortunately with this vid thumbnails for other vids came up on my phone screen just as the list of victim's names were shown, obscuring the names. Really love your channel and appreciate your hard work and attention to detail ❤ from Australia 🇦🇺 😀

[@theravenseye9443]

Ahhh - I am an old timer - I forget people watch YT on their phones !! (mine still has buttons on it)

[@anikajain571]

@@theravenseye9443 lol, I'm an old timer myself and only use my smart phone. It's been over a decade since I used a desktop computer. I struggle with technology, my children taught me everything I know about it 😆 my kids are grown now and I have a 3yr old grandson who can do more with technology than I can 🤣

[@BekaJadexoxo]

The second I heard that it was a canyon situation I knew how bad it could get quickly, I happened to grow up in an area of australia that had frequent bushfires & had parents in the rural fire brigade. For many fires the fire breaks my dad upkeeps throughout the years have been relied on for stopping fires in their tracks which also meant our property was ground zero for firefighting (for less intense fires, even as a child I would help & make sure the fire-fighters had water to drink). I have never been on scene at a particularly serious fire but even the ones I have been at have been quite intimidating (one that came within a couple metres of burning down next door & required both rural & urban fire brigades comes to mind, in spring 2005)

[@tommo9176]

Do you remember the black saturday bushfires in Victoria? Wow.

[@findingfifth407]

Oh James Harrison must have been some kind of young man to go solo into that fire. They were all so very young and brave.

[@bethintexas9678]

Thank you for this. I just finished reading the history of the Mann Gulch Fire. Your coverage was very detailed and insightful.

[@PibrochPonder]

Wow jumping into a remote area to put out a fire. That’s some brave guys.

[@jamessimms415]

A good number of smokejumpers of that era were likely WW2 Vets & airborne troopers

[@gregorybathurst7171]

I was a volunteer bush fire fighter in Australia , summer is a nightmare , the shocking thing is 90% are started illegally

[@codymoe4986]

Ehh, would you prefer thay they were started legally instead?

[@raquellofstedt9713]

Fire is so damn ruthless. I+m reminded of the 19 firefighters who died in Arizona a few years back. Peace to them. And to the survivor.

[@sharpshooter_Aus]

We now have smoke jumpers in Australia again, we only had volunteers prior to 2019 now they have govt funding again. It’s safer to lay in a patch of dirt in a bush fire than it is to jump into a dam so I can understand why the bloke burned a patch to lay in, a dam is dangerous cause the water will boil.

[@tommo9176]

Look up the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, Australia (where I live). Everything that could have gone wrong did. I was in Melbourne (the major city) and I'll never forget. The wind and heat was so strong that I was trying to walk through a small laneway between some skyscrapers. The wind carried the dust so fiercly, the heat so strong, that I remember the dirt on the road was flung across hitting your face as I tried to protect my face with my hands, but the dust hit you painfully. It was like a furnace. It was so hot that our train railway tracks across the city melted (seriously, they melted). The early warning system was 15-30 minutes delayed, the CFA (country fire authority)... everything that could have gone wrong did and a couple of hundred people died as people tried to escape the fire ran into each other due to them having 0 visibility due to the smoke. So there were roads with burnt out cars with bodies in them of families trying to escape. I'll never forget it. The wind and the fire was so strong that the fire lept across highways as if it was nothing. Ask any Victorian of that week in the lead up. I'll never, ever, ever forget it. There's some great docos even on youtube that show exactly how it occurred, hour by hour showing the fire spreading. Our new prime minister visited the survivors most of who were just in shock, with some country towns wiped off the map. I mean we're used to fire, but no one was used to this.

[@benji274]

+1 to the 2009 Black Saturday fires. Australia has had numerous bushfire tragedies, but that was the worst in terms of lives lost. Back to the current story: couldn’t imagine parachuting into a fire zone, that’s next level bravery. RIP to them all. And thanks for telling their story so well

[@JB91710]

Boots on the ground without a substantial supply of equipment and water in anything other than small grass fires, are completely useless and an unnecessary waste. There is nothing heroic in stupid tactics.

[@wayveyjayvey]

Another great video. Learn something new every video!

[@origamikamiful]

Your videos are the ones I look forward to most now!

[@WendysCove]

Gotta say, this is a Brilliant video. So much easier to understand than another video on same place. 🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@SMichaelDeHart]

As a retired Urban/Rural Structural Firefighter/ EMS First Responder with over 27yrs service, we were tasked with responding to all Forest Fires, Wild Fires or Brush Fires in our response territory in mountainous southern West Virginia. We were trained to fight Wild Fires by Ranger with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources - Forestry Section. Within all the Structural Fires and Rescue calls I've ever been on, I can honestly say that I never felt the kind of fear and reluctance that I've felt on a few Sever Multiple Acre Wild Fire, where the fire was hot and intense enough to create its own wind. You'll soon find out that you'll soil your pants as a wall of fire lifting 60-80' into the air and moving between 35-40mph.

[@themtbrowns]

Starting in the early to mid 1950's the role of smoke jumping became a mostly Native American job. I remember being in a Basecamp in 1986 serving food, and suddenly the entire tent went quiet. These 5 guys walked in tall, thin, with long hair, and went to the front of the food line because everyone else stood aside. I asked who they were, and one guy whispered, "they're the Crow's, the best Jumper's in the world." I'll never forget the awe and respect that were given to them. (This was in the Madison/Yellowstone counties basecamp.)

[@paulissus8974]

The smoke jumper at 2:48 looks just like the guy James Harrison at 4:00 whom you stated had been a smoke jumper himself, could they be one & the same?

[@alisondavies8499]

It's so tragic that most of the men lost their lives. R. I. P. Brave men

[@jasonhare8540]

Always listen to the old head . If it's a tough job with a lot of risks they didn't get that old on accident ....

[@scottbubb2946]

In hindsight it's easy to say they should have listened. But, from experience, I know it's hard to get people to go against their instincts. I do remember one time, when I was on the department, when someone over me told me to do something I thought was ridiculous. But, I had to do it because he was watching. That "ridiculous" order saved me from literally getting half my face burnt very badly.

[@Shichioreo]

Anyone who enjoys this great video really should read the book Young Men and Fire. It’s written by Norman Maclean, who also wrote A River Runs Through It. The audiobook read by his son John is one of the best things on Audible.

[@Shichioreo]

John Maclean himself wrote a great book about smokejumper fatalities entitled Fire on the Mountain. It tells what happened when fighting wildfire on Colorado’s Storm King Mountain in 1994. This channel should cover that incident.

[@captainhindsight8779]

Heroes, their names liveth forevermore.

[@wilfredwayne7139]

Dodge was an absolute legend.

[@kentcarter835]

Thank you for posting this, and thanks for including the 555th, Triple Nickels. Cheers from Texas, where wildfires are raging as we speak. Stay safe. PS...fire is the only thing in nature that runs faster uphill than down.

[@CaliforniaFly]

The DC-3 you show at 5:08, Miss Montana, was also involved in another tragedy. I forget the name of the river but 24320 ditched in it with a load of smoke jumpers. Eight or ten of the jumpers drowned while trying to swim to the shoreline. I flew this same plane for McNeely Air Charter in 1986/87 hauling auto freight into Michigan from many points in the southeast. Smoke Jumpers are amazing people. That has to be some of the most hazardous work ever.

[@theravenseye9443]

Was that recent (the plane ditching)? I hoped she was still flying...

[@uapeale6116]

My uncle was a Saskatchewan Smoke Jumper and him any a few others moved to the Yukon where we lived. They would get together now and then and tell stories, it was amazing any of them survived. Jumping into an area close to a fire was more than exciting, it was nearly suicidal.

[@TXnine7nine]

You should do a video on the Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona in 2013 that killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighters.

[@johncox2865]

Right. That was a terrible tragedy, and not so long ago.

[@drewdederer8965]

McClean's son wrote a book about that fire. "Fire on the Mountain".

[@Greg8835]

@@drewdederer8965 Only the Brave is a movie from 2017 about the Yarnell Hill fire. I was shown it without knowing what it was about. I definitely cried and it had me thinking about it for weeks. Sad story.

[@motsumilioness]

Too bad I can't add more likes to this. I'd like to see his take on this tragedy.

[@theravenseye9443]

I will look into it.

[@WeldingQueen]

Not only do you paint a vivid picture with a wonderful voice but you don't just use tragedy to make ur channel. You tell these ppl tales with respect and honor every time. And that for me is huge and I will always be a huge supporter of yours.

[@geerowr.6666]

The all Black pacific smoke jumpers were called the TRIPLE NICKELS (555). They were awarded medal of Valor 2014.

[@silverthorngoodtree5533]

Also from someone who lives there. HELL AN uh

[@travelwithtony5767]

F that. Not enough money in the world.

[@Ye4rZero]

As an Australian I've got such huge respect for firefighters

[@mikechrister2736]

Nature doesn't play around.

[@sammygirl6910]

You should cover the South Canyon fire disaster. If you look at photos of South Canyon and Mann Gulch, the topography is nearly identical.

[@theravenseye9443]

Yes I read about that whilst doing the research for this video. Maybe a future video?

[@MakerInMotion]

Smokejumper physical fitness requirements are pretty high. It's not easy to get in, it's like the Navy SEALs of firefighting. It makes sense. You might need to run from an advancing fire over rough terrain and if you get winded you'll die.

[@Page-Hendryx]

The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (2:30) was deployed to the US Pacific Northwest (mainly the state of Oregon) to fight fires cause by Japanese 'balloon bombs', and disarm and destroy any of the unexploded incendiary devices.

[@optician53]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKmnh2Wkq9Bspq8 "Cold Missouri Waters" Cry, Cry, Cry 1998 My name is Dodge, but then you know that It's written on the chart there at the foot end of the of the bed They think I'm blind that I can't read it I've read it every word and every word it says is death So confession Is that the reason that you came Get it off my chest before I check out of the game Since you mention it well there's thirteen things I'll name Thirteen crosses high above the cold Missouri waters August 49 North Montana The hottest day on record the forest tinder dry Lightning strikes in the mountains I was crew chief at the jump base I prepared the boys to fly Pick the drop zone C47 comes in low Feel the tap upon your leg that tells you go See the circle of the fire down below Fifteen of us dropped above the cold Missouri waters Gauged the fire I'd seen bigger So I ordered them to side hill we'd fight it from below We'd have our backs to the river We'd have it licked by morning even if we took it slow But the fire crowned jumped the valley just ahead There was no way down headed for the ridge instead Too big to fight it we'd have to fight that slope instead Flames one step behind above the cold Missouri waters Sky had turned red smoke was boiling Two hundred yards to safety Death was fifty yards behind 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've 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 Then when I rose like the phoenix In that world reduced to ashes There was none but two survived I stayed that night and one day after Carried bodies to the river Wondering how I stayed alive Thirteen stations of the cross to mark their fall I've had my say I'll confess to nothing more I'll join them now those that they left me long before Thirteen crosses high above the cold Missouri waters

[@keithmills778]

As written by James Keelaghan.

[@sarge420]

Three of our Pararescuemen (PJs) on the 304th RQS were smoke jumpers out of Winthrop, WA. Tons of respect for these guys.

[@gillgetter3004]

About ten years ago we were at Mount Rushmore on 4th of July. Watched fireworks shot from monument from deck of Hotel that night, after the fireworks I could see a small fire up near the monument . Next morning we went to the monument viewing area, about ten smokejumpers came climbing down from monument!! I asked about the fire I saw night before and they said they were dropped up there and put it out!! They were up there from about 11PM till we saw them about 10:00 AM next morning

[@randywarnock2937]

North Cascades Smokejumper Base was started in 1938 near Winthrop WA.

[@FoxtrotYouniform]

Have you considered doing the Charleston Sofa Superstore fire from 2007?

[@theravenseye9443]

I will have a look at that.

[@drive-bychicago225]

Wow, I'm glad you are okay - what a close call - be safe!

[@karlepaul6632]

I thought the DC-3 dropping the wreaths was really something, a fitting tribute.

[@philgiglio7922]

In case anyone is curious the name of the book is YOUNG MEN AND FIRE. Well worth a read from a master storyteller who was, IIRC, a wildfire researcher Oddly enough the first smoke jumpers were members of the all black 555th parachute company, i think. The only combat jumps they made were on what may have been Japanese balloon bombs... we'll never know for sure

[@nathanj3114]

Song about this fire. James Keelaghan - Cold Missouri Waters

[@briansmith1055]

Can we just appreciate the team leader WAGNER DODGE ?!? If Thats not a heroic name i don’t know what is 👌🏻💪🏻…brave men

[@yuerinmorgan6437]

It sounds simplistic but I cannot imagine why firefighters would need to be deployed to forest fires if people were prohibited from building & living in homes in fire vulnerable areas.

[@PumaTomten]

Imagine fighting nature in extreme heat for hours almost losing your mind then you suddenly need all energy possible left to possibly survive but is still very limited due to heat and terrain.

[@WingKLok]

Thank you for making a video *for us* just after your close call at home. I hope what is lost in your neighborhood can be rebuilt not lost forever, and that some sense of action is imbued into your neighbors in event of future emergency. I’m just surprised that in Portugal it is volunteer firefighters and not professional, or augmented by volunteers?

[@theravenseye9443]

Nearly all are volunteers, but very well organized. However, many here are calling for a new system with more forward planning and prevention, and less "rushing to react"... The area will look black and a bit ugly for a couple of years, but much of it regrows...

[@WingKLok]

@@theravenseye9443 I hope that elected officials & technical experts in Portugal would take lessons learned recently but also from other places that has (been) experiencing wildfires/bush fires… most places with humans are WUI wildland urban interface as they call it in USA… need defensible spaces around properties, alert systems that are resilient, incident command system, & plan/practice evacuation routes. Oh form, train & retain volunteers that can supplement professional/semi-pro cadre - look up Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) in USA as an example. FEMA liked it so much since its inception by Los Angeles Fire Department that it spread it nationally. Shoutout to CERT as I’m part of a training cadre of my municipality which has significant Spanish-speaking population)… best wishes from San Francisco Bay Area ❤️ & thank you for all you do to educate, honor, & remember history

[@LWolf12]

That History Guy has an extremely interesting video on the 555th, involving the Japanese fire balloons.

[@arliewayne1]

It is a shame that the crew that perished at Storm King made the same mistake that was made at Mann Gulch. Both crews chased the fire coming up the gulch by going down the Gulch. Sad.

[@thedingo8833]

Whoa. You just gave me whole new meaning to fighting fire with fire. God bless these men and their loved ones. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙆🏻🙆🏻

[@timdelph9048]

2:17 not quite accurate. The first base to be stood up to train jumpers was in 1939 in Winthrop, Washington. The bros out of Ninemile (Montana) did get the first operational jump on a fire in Martin Creek on the Nez Perce National Forest before the North Cascades bros got an operational jump though.

[@eddyspagettypresents6487]

I love your channel. I just finished watching all of your videos and everyone was well done, interesting material and kept me very involved. Fascinating stuff! Keep it up. It really makes you think and appreciate your own fragile life on this Earth. You have a captivating way of speaking it well, you are a good narrator.

[@theravenseye9443]

Glad you found me!

[@cruisepaige]

You have a good channel, too!

[@sammygirl6910]

I was just scouting your channel for something I missed when I binged all your content two weeks ago. 😂😂😂 Thanks, I'm very happy to see you covering this story.

[@theravenseye9443]

Glad you found me!

[@RyanGribble]

My family had a cabin about 5 miles upstream of the gates of the mountain and mann gulch. I've hiked that trail a few times.

[@raquelnunes9793]

Portuguese here. Our wildfires situation is just tragic. My hometown almost burned down and i had several family members and friends having to be evacuated.

[@ryanjbalis1615]

I was on an Alaskan hotshot crew and I read this book years ago. sad story but yea dodge was a modern ed Pulaski...if you guys don't know the story of Ed Pulaski ha look that shit up. dude held his crew at gunpoint and that is what saved their life's. stay safe my FFT2 and FFT1 peeps

[@Cam-ns1yi]

Smoke jumping has got to be the dumbest idea I've ever heard of..... Just saying

[@Steamtramman719]

Decades ago I flew for TAP and lived at Cascais. But I do not remember bad/deliberate fires under the regime of Dr. Salazar. Perhaps the baddies only did it once?

[@desdicadoric]

Brave lads, that’s the curse of young men, thinking they are indestructible

[@relwalretep]

Thanks

[@theravenseye9443]

Thank You!!

[@medea27]

As an Aussie with annual bushfires being just a part of life, the thought of smokejumping is genuinely disturbing to me. Even before the advent of modern fire management methods, any bushfire that started in a remote forest or national park here was contained as best possible & left to burn... aside from fire being a critical part of ecosystem regeneration, it's pure insanity to drop firefighters into a remote location with limited equipment & no quick way out. Nothing - not even your home - is worth your life or the life of the brave men & women who battle these blazes.

[@montanaelkwhisperer1744]

let's also remember the fourteen who died in the south canyon fire on storm king mountain in Glenwood springs Colorado in 1994.

[@jp-um2fr]

UK Such an awful waste of life. It's easy to lay the blame on young men who didn ot follow orders but one can also blame their training. The words 'personnel discipine' don't seem to count for much as the years go by. That's the way society is these days - in every country.

[@jeffreyharnden7523]

I'm guessing that 36 degree c. Means that it probably was in the 90s or 100s clearly he didn't mean 36 degrees because that would be pretty cold it would be nice when people would explain what they mean by so and so Celsius but I do like the story this is not an attack on the narrarator personally this goes for all narraratos in general just trying to understand keep up the good work

[@michaelwhalen2821]

This situation begs the question. If the fire is in a remote area where no lives or property are in danger, why not let it burn? If you keep putting out forest fires, then fuel in the form of brush and downed trees will accumulate, almost ensuring that massive, uncontrollable forest fires will occur.

[@zetectic7968]

A sorry tale highlighting a lack of knowledge at the time. The idea of parachuting people into to danger seems questionable. The US has a long history of the flawed attitude that man can tame nature. These are landscapes that have evolved with fire as a natural part of the process. Time and again small fires have been prevented only to allow much bigger ones to develop later. With the whole drought in the West getting worse means that fires will happen more frequently.

[@markdavids2511]

Wildfires are needed in forests, they force the revitalisation of the eco system, out with the old, in with the new. Nature is designed to need these fires.