Forest Fires are some of the most terrifying natural disasters. In the wet and cool middle Atlantic, forest fires have never really been of real concern. On the West Coast, however, people live in mortal fear of a wildfire being sparked by any number of common occurrences. The concept of why fires are started is commonly a large talking point around the summer months of the year. The most probable cause of the uptick of catastrophic wildfires is climate change, spurred along by the “all fire is bad” attitude of the United States Forest Service causing a lack of support of controlled burning. However, not all catastrophic fires have occurred in the 21st century. Today, we’ll look at the fire that started it all: The Great Fire of 1910.
The picturesque landscape of the Pacific Northwest, with millions of acres of virgin forest, draws the awe of many. In the early 20th century, the lack of industrialization in the area meant that the towns were small. Many of the industries revolved around logging and mining. These industries were served by railways that would through the pristine woodland, hugging mountainsides on colossal wooded trestles and tunnels. These railways were serviced by coal-fired trains, and the embers emitted posed an extreme hazard to dry forests. Normally, at any one point, there would have been several fires burning that were known about. It could have been homesteaders clearing land, the previously mentioned locomotive-related fires, or fires caused by natural means. Nobody knows the true cause of the Great Fire.
On August 19th, there were several thousand fires burning in Idaho and Montana. Suddenly, on the 20th, a wind storm turned the woodland into an inferno. The vortex created by the fires was said to have ripped trees by their roots, and tore buildings from their foundations.
Over two days, at least 87 people lost their lives. The majority of these were firefighters. There were numerous tales of heroism from this inferno, chief among which being the story of Ranger Ed Pulaski, who saved his troop of forty men by herding them into an abandoned mine. In the aftermath, the United States Forest Service was greatly expanded. The famous fire towers that tower high above the forest were constructed with this newfound budget. The stories of forest rangers such as Ed Pulaski were immortalized in local folklore, and the combined effort of the federal government, local firefighters, and the United States Army helped to extinguish the fire. Nobody exactly knows what was going through the minds of the firefighters that perished in the blaze, but their commitment to their fellow man is something to be commended.
I had never considered locomotives as a source of forest fires. In my paradigm shift essay for last semester I discussed the social and environmental ramifications of the steam locomotive. Had I thought about their potential to cause forest fires, it likely would have changed the context of my essay dramatically. Also, the thought of a vortex strong enough to uproot trees and level buildings is as intimidating as it is fascinating. Having seen the forests of the Pacific Northwest, I suspect one reason for the higher rates of forest fires is the difference in vegetation. In the east, we have dense, green foliage with lots of wet, rotting leaves on the forest floor. In the west, there are fewer, larger trees (mostly evergreens). These trees do not shed large, wet leaves as do deciduous trees.
I remember learning in either elementary or middle school about how some forest fires can be very helpful for the local environment. Is there any way that the US Forest Service could facilitate controlled and beneficial forest fires? With the damage caused by both climate change and the pattern of giant forest fires, are controlled forest fires even a possibility on the West Coast? Concerning the Great Fire of 1910, I was surprised to hear that 87 people died trying to flee/combat it. I was especially surprised at the high death toll seeing how I had never heard of this incident before now.