Laureldale Fire Entrapment Fatalities 1929

Robert "Bliss" Keys and Richard Cornett were part of a 15-person fire crew assigned to the 600-acre Laureldale Fire on the Unaka National Forest in Virginia. Significant progress had been made on the fire when a sudden wind shift followed by a "whirlwind" (possibly a firewhirl) caused a sudden increase in fire behavior. The Forest Guard running the crew called to the crew and directed their escape, paying special attention to four sixteen-year-old boys who carried drinking water for the crew. As Keys and Cornett ran to escape the fire, they were cut off and tried to find another way to safety. Their bodies were found hours later some distance away from where they were last seen alive.

The Unaka National Forest was later divided into the Pisgah National Forest (in North Carolina) and the Jefferson National Forest (in Virginia).

Entrapment, Fatality, Hand Crews, Fire Behavior