GREAT FALLS — It’s been 75 years since the deadly Mann Gulch Fire in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness.
In early August of 1949, after about two weeks with temperatures in the 90s, a storm system moved through the area producing a lot of rain and in turn a lot of lightning.
When Canyon Ferry Ranger District manager Bob Jansson finally spotted the fire from the air it was less than 10 acres.
By the time it was over it had burned thousands of acres and claimed 13 lives.
Dave Turner is a retired National Forest Service employee. He’s also a pre-eminent historian when it comes to the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire.
He’s even written a book about the event called “The Thirteenth Fire.”
“The Mann Gulch Fire was the 13th of 57 fires that the men on the Helena National Forest would tackle that summer,” said Turner who retired as the Meriwether Guard Lookout for the Helena National Forest Service. It was the same position that Jim Harrison, who died in the Mann Gulch Fire, held.
Turner says the story of the Mann Gulch fire really begins on Aug. 4, 1949.
After two weeks of hot weather with temperatures exceeding 90 degrees, a storm system made its way over the area, producing a lot of rain, a lot of lightning, and in turn a lot of smoke.
Turner says the ranger district phones were ringing off the hook that evening with reports of smoke.
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Turner said most of the attention at the time was centered on fires burning near York and Cave Gulch.
On Aug. 5, Meriwether Guard Jim Harrison, who had left the smoke jumping profession a year earlier at the request of his mother, set out looking for a fire which he found. Back at the cabin, he tried unsuccessfully to relay the information over the radio, prompting him to head back out.
“He hiked back up the canyon, 37 switchbacks, to get to the ridge and begins the build line to try to keep the fire from getting into the canyon,” said Turner.
A Colorado Mountain lookout finally spotted the fire and a plane was dispatched to monitor the fire and two others that were burning. Ironically, the flight would go right over Mann Gulch.
“At that point in time, either it wasn’t smoking or it was right underneath the plane,” said Turner.
Not seeing the fire, the crew went back to Helena and another call came from Colorado Mountain again reporting a fire near Mann Gulch.
“So they reloaded in a plane, and flew directly over the fire,” said Turner.
The early estimate of the fire size was 5 to 8 acres. Because it was burning in rough terrain, the forest service requested 25 smoke jumpers.
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“So, the smokejumpers were coming in from the Missoula Smokejumpers Base,” said Laura Marsh, and archeologist and Community Engagement Specialist with the Montana Historical Society. “Many were college students who were doing this work for their summer.”
Due to other fires burning, the smokejumper base was able to send 15, including supervisor, Wagner “Wag” Dodge, a nearly 10-year smoke-jumping veteran.
The flight from Missoula to Helena was a rough one.
“The plane bucked and switched back and forth, so much so that one of the jumpers got sick on the flight over and decided not to jump. Consequently, of course, saving his own life,” said Turner.
With the fire size estimated at 50 to 60 acres, the pilot found a spot where the jumpers could land near Mann Gulch, some with more difficulty than others.
“I think it was a total of six of the guys had difficult landings,” said Turner. “One guy landed in a tree. One guy landed on his back. Two guys parachutes intertwined, and they landed together, still entwined, but safely.”
Dodge assessed the fire as too aggressive to attack head-on. He instructed the crew to go down to the river and begin building a fire line. When Dodge came up on a ridge, Turner says he was likely shocked at what he saw.
“He sees that the fire has kicked firebrands off the fire on the ridge and they’ve landed in the bottom of the gulch where there’s a lot of grass, a lot of brush and that’s on fire,” said Turner.
The fire was directly below. Dodge ordered the crew to head back uphill to a ridgetop, but the scree slopes they had to cross were treacherous.
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“Rocks in there are the size of Volkswagens down to bricks, and there’s no trails whatsoever,” said Turner.
No longer in a line, Dodge asked Bill Hellman, his second in command to order the crew to drop their heavy equipment in hopes of moving quicker against the rapidly advancing flames.
Then Dodge did something unconventional.
“Without a word to anyone, he leans down and with a book of paper matches, starts tossing matches into the grass,” said Turner.
“So, he lit what is by many accounts considered the first escape fire in firefighting history,” said Marsh.
He unsuccessfully encouraged the others to join him in the escape fire.
“At that point, the guys who are nearest to him think, this guy’s nuts,” said Turner. “We already have enough fire here, and here he is, lighting more stuff on fire.”
“We don’t know if they simply didn’t hear, they didn’t understand what he was doing because that wasn’t part of their training at that point in time,” said Marsh.
It was a technique employed by Native Americans years earlier.
Two men, Bob Sallee and Walt Rumsey, were able to stay ahead of the fire and scramble to safety.
“They run to the bottom of that scree field and another tongue of the fire comes over the top of the ridge, heads directly at them, and they run back to the top,” said Turner. Bottom line is they survive the fire without so much as a first-degree burn.”
Bill Hellman also made it to the ridge but got caught from behind by the fire.
“While he’s burned over 80% of his body, he still managed to struggle another 200 yards down that slope and rescue dogs before he collapses,” said Turner.
Hellman and another badly burned firefighter, Joe Sylvia, would eventually be carried to safety.
“The rest of the guys are caught in a matter of seconds,” said Turner.
Later that fall, investigators estimated the fire burned through that grass at 600 to 700 feet per minute with flames as high as 30 feet. Turner says fire that powerful typically consumes the oxygen in front of it.
“So, as it would come up on these guys, all of a sudden they’d have no breath,” said Turner.
Despite optimism, Hellman and Sylvia would die after being transported to St. John’s Hospital in Helena later that afternoon.
The fire burned until August 10th. Turner says a search for the other 11 firefighters commenced on August 6th.
“It isn’t until Sunday, the seventh, that they recover the last body which was so badly burned, the only thing it was left with a large leg bone,” said Turner.
Lessons learned from the Mann Gulch Fire helped to shape the firefighting strategies of today. Even though it happened 75 years ago, it serves as a reminder never to forget the 13 who died.
