Granite Mountain Fire Entrapment Fatalities 1942

Three youth firefighters, R.B. Fryer, Gorge Nolte, and Harvey Fultz, members of the California Guard, were entrapped and two perished on the Granite Mountain Fire east of Julian on July 19, 1942. This fire, burning in grass and brush, started three days earlier on the east slope of Granite Mountain.

On July 19, at approximately 0630 hours, a group of firefighters who had been working to suppress this fire since shortly after it started were resting in San Felipe Valley in an area judged to be a safe. The fire then made a sudden run and a fire whirl was generated. This fire whirl crossed the nearby fireline and moved 600 feet into the green, igniting multiple fires.

The group of resting firefighters escaped from the advancing spot fire to a nearby road. However, one boy, R. B. Fryer, fell and was overtaken by the flames. Another firefighter, George Nolte, was seriously burned during his escape. Nolte died of his injuries in a San Diego hospital. Leader of the group, Lieutenant Fabun, chase after Fryer and Nolte to try to direct them to safety but was unable to catch them. Fabun narrowly escaped the fire. Another firefighter in the group, Harvey Fultz, sustained injuries described as "an injury to the leg treated by a private physician." 

Both deceased firefighters were 15 to 16 years old.