Clear Creek-Kings Canyon Fire Entrapment 1926

The Clear Creek-Kings Canyon Fire was burning in the Clear Creek drainage on the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains near Carson City, Nevada. Winds pushed the fire into erratic runs up ridges and down canyons in the vicinity of present day Highway US-50. A group of firefighters were on a major road when they were caught by the running fire. They attempted to take refuge in a rock rim above the road. Three firefighters perished at the scene. Two others perished from their burns in the hospital. The firefighters were a prison guard and two prisoners, a railroad worker, and a forest patroller for a Tahoe-area ski resort. 

Those lost on the Kings Canyon Fire: George Brown, John E. Mitchell, Ross Morres, Arthur Sunday, and Bryant Whitmore.

According to a statement by then-Nevada Governor James Scrugham, firefighter Bryant Whitmore had reached safety when he turned to assist Arthur Sunday who was still entrapped. Both Sunday and Whitmore were then rescued by Fuiro Dondero, but both succumbed to their burns. Bryant Whitmore perished on October 1, and Arthur Sunday on October 2. 

Entrapment, Burn Injury, Fatality, Fire Behavior