-
Location:
New Mexico -
Date:
04/28/1940 -
Incident Type:
Entrapment -
Description:
Jay Vaughn Paris, an 18-year-old Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) crewmember, was entrapped and killed on a 300-acre fire on the Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico. Paris was mobilized with a CCC handcrew from the camp at Tularosa to attack this fire. He was with three fellow crewmembers involved in suppressing spot fires when the fire ran towards them. An alternate account blames a firing operation on their entrapment. While Paris' three companions were able to escape, Paris became cut off and perished.
This may have been the Silver Plume Fire, which other official documents reference as a case of a firefighter sleeping near the line. No other documentation substantiating this is readily available.
Entrapment, Fatality, Hand Crews