Lessons learned from the Mann Gulch tragedy
TOM KUGLIN tom.kuglin@helenair.com 58 min ago
The tragedy that unfolded on Aug. 5, 1949 in a remote gulch north of Helena stands as the smokejumpers deadliest day. ... Mann Gulch still sits today much like it did 70 years ago, isolated between the Missouri River and wildlands of the Big Belt Mountains. No roads provide motorized access. Trails from roads range from 7 to 18 miles by foot or horseback through a mix of steep canyons and ridgetops. And water travel means finding a boat to transport people and supplies.
In August of that year nearby fires at York and in Cave Gulch demanded nearly all the resources the local area could muster. So when the call came in for a small wildfire burning in the remote stretches of Mann Gulch, it is little wonder the request went to Missoula for the smokejumpers to respond.
Mann Gulch today
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The crew in 1949 made the jump successfully into Mann Gulch, assembled gear and began to make their way to the Missouri River with the plan to work back onto the fire. The river would give them an important escape if things turned bad. ... But before they could make the river, spot fires cut them off and shifting winds brought a racing inferno up the gulch. Crew foreman Wag Dodge ordered them to drop their gear and run. Only two, Robert Sallee and Walter Rumsey, would make the ridge to safety while Dodge succeeded in burning out a small area of grass and lying face down with his coat over his head as the fire burned around him.
Hike to the top
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Memorials lay scattered across the far hillside for the 12 smokejumpers -- Stanley Reba, Silas Thompson, Joseph Sylvia, Robert Bennett, Newton Thompson, Leonard Piper, Eldon Diettert, Marvin Sherman, David Navon, Philip McVey, Henry Thol and William Hellman -- along with Meriwether guard James Harrison, a former smokejumper who came to assist.
While the loss of life rocked the Forest Service, the tragedy brought important changes to the way fires are fought and studied, Avey said. ... The crew worked together little before their jump into Mann Gulch, Avey said. Training now focuses heavily on crew cohesion, leadership and communication when on a wildfire. ... Dodges use of a burnout fire, while it must have seemed radical at the time, especially to the crew who continued to run despite his pleas to join him, is now fundamental to training, he said. Firefighters learn early on the phrase one foot in the black, giving them a critical escape path into already burned areas.
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Reporter Tom Kuglin can be reached at 447-4076 @IR_TomKuglin