Cow Creek Fire Hit by Tree Fatalities 1918

Two Forest Service firefighters, James Robert Benham and Melvin Murphy, were hit by a snag and killed while fighting the Cow Creek Fire near Walker Prairie on August 9, 1918. The two men were part of a fire patrol along with a third firefighter, Goldthrip, suppressing an active fire burning in the vast mountainous area between Roseburg and the coast. Benham and Murphy were working near a large burning snag which fell, striking them. Some accounts indicate that Goldthrip witnessed the snag begin to fall and attempt to warn the men. Goldthrip, slightly injured by the snag, discovered that Murphy was killed instantly by the snag and Benham was severely injured. He attempted to move Benham farther away from the fire, but the severely injured man's pain made moving him impossible. Goldthrip left Benham in the best place he could and then ran the six miles for help. When Goldthrip returned, Benham had also perished, and the bodies of both men had been burned over by the fire. Recovery of the bodies was a multi-day effort.