Knappa Fire Entrapment Fatalities 1917

Two firefighters were entrapped and fatally injured on a forest fire near Astoria, Oregon, sometime around August 24, 1917. The firefighters were both described as "Russians," likely immigrants working for Big Creek Logging Company at the time of their deaths. A crew of loggers working as firefighters were entrapped by a run of the fire, and were instructed to run to safety. The crew broke into two groups -- some taking a trail and others escaping via a railroad right of way. Of the railroad group, three escaped, but two firefighters, Stit Kulik and Alex Aushiki were overcome and perished. The two men were natives of Grodno, a region that is now in Belarus. 

Entrapment, Fatality, Hand Crews, Burn Injury