Halfway Fire Hit by Tree Fatality 1936

On July 24, 1936,  Norman J. Atkins, a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollee, was struck and killed by a falling tree limb on a fire in the Halfway area in Northeast Oregon. According to media reports, Atkins was standing near a large tree that another firefighter was felling with an ax. The shock of ax strikes against the bole of the tree is believed to have causes the limb to fall, striking Atkins on the head and killing him instantly around 1730. Atkins had been a member of the CCC Company 980 based in Baker, Oregon.