As part of the observance of the 75th anniversary of the deadly Mann Gulch fire, memories of the Higgins Ridge fire of 1961 have rekindled as well, noting how lessons learned in the first fire that killed 13 helped save 20 lives in the second.
There were two showings on Saturday of the “Higgins Ridge” documentary.
AARP Montana hosted two viewings of “Higgins Ridge,” a nearly hourlong 2023 Montana PBS documentary on the fire that burned in the Idaho wilderness. It was shown twice Saturday at the Myrna Loy. There was an 11 a.m. private viewing attended by some family members of the 13 firefighters who died in the 1949 Mann Gulch fire north of Helena and a 7 p.m. viewing for the public.
The U.S. Forest Service sent 20 smokejumpers to put out a wildfire burning on Higgins Ridge. The wind fueled the blaze into a blowup. The smokejumpers pivoted from battling the fire to fighting for their lives as the fire surrounded them. It was through the heroic efforts of Johnson Flying Service pilot Rob Snider, who along with Bill Magnuson, a Moose Creek Forest Service Ranger, flew into the fire.
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