Fire commemoration

One hundred years ago on August 20, the Memorial Grove site at Savenac Nursery was on fire. This past Saturday, on August 20, a crowd gathered in the grove for the rededication of the historic site and to listen as four speakers spoke an account of what happened and remembered some of the forest service's first firefighters.

Seventy-eight fire fighters lost their lives fighting the 1910 Fire, a fire that could not be stopped despite their efforts. Bob Derleth, fire management officer, spoke first about what the scene was like 100 years ago. Reading from Elers Koch's book, Derleth provided an account of the days leading up to the fire and what eventually ensued.

It all started in the spring of 1910. While the snowfall of 1909 did not appear deficient, in fact it was what above normal, the summer drought started early on. April rains were lacking and the hills were hardly green. Dry, southwest winds blew and the forest became dry, "ready to explode at the touch of a spark."

The newly formed forest service was thinly scattered and there were no lookouts in existence. Fires were burning and some 3,000 men were employed as firefighters. A crew of fifty was considered large, where as today crews can reach 500 to 600 people. The fires were under control and by the end of the first week in August, things were looking better.

"Every fire in the forest was out or practically under control," Derleth read.

August 10, however, was a bad day. With low humidity and high winds, fires picked up everywhere and fire lines were extended. Near August 19, things were looking good once again. The end of the season was approaching and the loss was not great. However, the wind blew a gale from the southwest again and fires picked up and merged, forming big ones. Fire lines melted away, the sky turned a ghastly yellow and turned black ahead of the fire, Derleth read. Had it not been for the trains that bore people to safety, the loss of life would be greater.

"So we're here to remember those events and remember those who fought the fire," Derleth said.

Crews at the time were made up of forest service rangers, young men who had little or no experience and were essentially learning on the job. Mine workers and mill workers signed on to fight fires receiving slightly better pay and a few more hours of work. Derleth said these were the men the forest service relied upon because they knew the woods and knew how to swing an axe. However, there were only a few of them. Finally, people were hired off the streets to fight the fires for 25 cents a day, plus room and board. There room was a blanket on a forest floor and their meal camp food.

"As we honor the firefighters of 1910, we also honor all of those of you as well who fight fires today and have fought fires," Derleth said. "Firefighting demands diligence and toughness in the face of sometimes overwhelming odds often without thanks or recognition...so let's give thanks to everyone who got up in the middle of night and carried a forty pound pack for miles in the dark to put out a lightening fire. Let's give thanks to everyone whoever left their home and family for weeks at a time to sleep on the ground and work 16 hour day. Let's give thanks to everyone who ever stood in and held fire line with their eyes stinging from smoke and grit and lungs aching from smoke and hard air until they could barely breathe... most of all give thanks to the firefighters that never made it home again."

As Derleth ended his speech, a song entitled "The Big Burn," by Bill Stutzman played. The song was a farewell letter from a husband and father who sent his family away on the train while he remained to fight the fire.

"The haunting melody expresses the urgency of the good-bye as well as the sober bravery of those who stood up to fight the fires," said Stutzman, his notes written in the commemoration program.

Patti Koppenol, regional director of fire and aviation, spoke next, touching on how things have changed since the 1910 fires in terms of equipment and access. Years ago, all ground crews had to work with was hand tools. There was no means of communication and no access to the fires. Today, firefighters have phones, cell phones and satellite phones. ATVs, chainsaws and heavy equipment provide access and ease at clearing fire lines. Helicopters, smoke jumpers, fire retardant, weather forecasts and computer imagery all play a role in fighting fires, controlling fires, detecting fires and predicting fire behavior. Back then, fire crews were made up solely of men, where as today nearly 20 percent of the force is women. Food has also changed from MREs (meals ready to eat) to catered steak dinners.

She also talked about how policy was forever changed and adapted after the 1910 Fire. After the fire, all wild land fires were viewed as harmful and destructive and the main mission was to put out all fires as quickly as they had started. It wasn't until the 70s when the concept of allowing some fires to burn began to play a part in forest management.

"...balance that need for quick initial attack with the need to manage wildfire to maintain fire adapted ecosystems and reduce risk of fire," Koppenol said. "But what never changes is a collective commitment to firefighter safety."

Paula Short, from the Montana Department of Natural Resources, also spoke on the office of the forester. She talked about different men who had held the position and what they had to handle. The forestry officer during the 1910 Fire had just been appointed before fire broke out.

Short said that she marveled at how firefighters could work in the mountains within the Superior district, saying that it was some of the steepest country she herself had attempted to walk in.

"And we can only speculate," she said, "but it gives us a deeper appreciation for the heroism."

Derleth said that while the men who fought the fires never intended to be heroes, they became heroes in the eyes of the public.

A new plaque was unveiled at the ceremony on Saturday which reads, "The Great Fires of 1910 that roared over these mountains devastated forest, wildlife, firefighters and local communities. This plaque is placed here in the memory of those pioneer heroes."