2 Into the Flames

Smoke jumpers fight a fire deep in the forest.

You don't have to be crazy,but it helps. This old joke is often used to describe people who do dangerous work. A test pilot would be one example. So, too, would a race car driver. But it is hard to think of a more hazardous job than smoke jumping.

A want ad for smoke jumpers might read like this. “Wanted: A few brave souls who enjoy jumping out of a plane to reach and put out forest fires. Must be willing to land on a steep slope or high up in a tree.Applicants must not be afraid of raging fire or choking smoke. Must be able to cut trees and dig trenches for hours on end. In fact, must be willing to work for days straight without rest. Must also be able to hike miles through the wilderness while carrying a 100-pound pack. And, oh yes, the pay is lousy.”

Jumping out of a plane into a fire has always been risky work. Smoke jumpers knew that. But on August 5, 1949, they learned just how deadly their job could be. At 12:25 that afternoon, a fire broke out about 20 miles north of Helena, Montana. It happened in a place called Mann Gulch. The day was hot, dry, and windy. That meant the fire would spread quickly. Mann Gulch was deep in the wilderness. It was far from any roads. So this was clearly a job for smoke jumpers.

Fifteen smoke jumpers answered the call. They climbed onto a plane and flew to the gulch. At 3:30 P.M., they parachuted into the woods. The jump didn't go well. High winds forced the men to jump higher than they had planned. As a result, they landed far apart. It took them more than an hour to find each other.

Still, that didn't seem like a big deal at the time. The fire looked routine. “I took a look at the fire and decided it wasn't bad. ... I thought it probably wouldn't burn much more that night, ”said one.

Because the fire didn't look bad, the group took their time getting organized. Their leader's name was R. Wagner “Wag” Dodge. As Dodge gathered the men together, he heard someone shouting near the fire. It was Jim Harrison, a forest ranger. Harrison had been the first to see the fire. He had been trying to fight it alone for hours. Dodge left the group to speak with Harrison. At 5:40 P.M., he and Harrison rejoined the crew. The men were now ready to put out the fire.

They all headed down the gulch toward the Missouri River. But just then the fire flared up below them. This was no routine fire after all. It was a killer.

Powerful winds fed the flames. These flames leaped as high as 200 feet.Temperatures in the blaze soared to 1,800 degrees. Now the men realized their mistake. They should have put out the fire when they had the chance. But it was too late to worry about that now. The fire was closing in on them. It was moving up the slope at a furious speed.

Quickly, Dodge ordered his men to turn around and go back up the gulch. He hoped they could make it up over the ridge line and down the other side before the fire overtook them. That seemed to be their only hope. The men dropped their gear and ran as fast as they could. It was a race against death. The odds were not good. Forest fires spread faster going up a hill than down. But the men could not run very fast up the steep incline.

As they scrambled up the slope, Wag Dodge had another idea. Suddenly he stopped and lit a backfire. This technique was new at the time. The goal was to burn a patch of ground before the main fire could reach it. The fire would move around such a patch because there would be nothing left to burn inside it. By lying down inside the burned-out area, a firefighter could save his or her life.

As Dodge lit his backfire, he called to the other men. He wanted them to wait with him and join him in the burned-out patch. They refused. Perhaps they thought they could outrun the fire. Or perhaps they didn't understand what he was doing. In any case, they left Dodge on his own. He lay down in the patch he had burned. The fire skipped right by him,sparing his life.

For the others, the fire was less forgiving. The flames picked off the men one by one. Eleven men, including Jim Harrison, died that day in the gulch.Besides Dodge,only two others survived.Somehow they managed to run fast enough to escape the flames. Two other men made it out but died from their burns the next day.

The country was shocked and saddened by the deaths of the smoke jumpers. Some good did come out of the tragedy, however. For one thing,it showed how unpredictable a fire can be.A tiny blaze can turn into a raging inferno. The Mann Gulch fire also proved the wisdom of starting a backfire. That is a standard technique today.

Beyond that, the fire showed that smoke jumpers needed more and better equipment. Wag Dodge's crew had just one two-way radio.It got smashed during the jump.So the men had no way to talk to the outside world. Today a smoke jumping crew will carry several radios.

Clothing has also come a long way. In 1949 the men wore jeans and cotton, long-sleeved work shirts. They wore baseball caps. Today all smoke jumpers wear fire-resistant clothes. They wear hard hats. Every smoke jumper carries a small rolled-up shelter. It is made from aluminum that doesn't burn.This shelter can come in handy if a fire gets too close.A person can open it up and crawl inside.Then he or she can wait for the fire to pass by.

Today's smoke jumpers also follow 10 strict rules. Everyone carries a copy of these rules inside his or her hard hat. One rule is to“establish lookouts.”Another is to“know your safety zones and escape routes.”

Still, smoke jumping remains dangerous. It's a job that saves lives, forests, and property. But it's not for everyone. After all, only a few people would fit the description in that want ad.