Mann Gulch Fire Entrapment Fatalities 1949

The Mann Gulch Fire was discovered on August 5, 1949 in a remote canyon of the Helena National Forest in Montana. Forest Service Fire Guard James Harrison began initial attack of the fire while 15 smokejumpers from Missoula parachuted into the fire area and began to make access to attack the fire. While crew of smokejumpers were traversing Mann Gulch headed downhill and towards the Missouri River, spot fires emerged below them, cutting off their route to the river. The 15 smokejumpers and fire guard tried to escape on foot to the top of the ridge. Smokejumper Foreman Robert Wagner "Wag" Dodge successfully set a fire with matches to create an area of black to survive the entrapment. The remainder of the firefighters tried to outrun the fire on foot; two firefighters crested the ridge and took refuge in a rock scree on the lee side, surviving. The other 12 smokejumpers and fire guard perished in the fire or soon afterward from serious burns.

Those lost in the Mann Gulch Fire were: Robert Bennett, Eldon Diettert, James Harrison, William Hellman, Philip McVey, David Navon, Leonard Piper, Stanley Reba, Marvin Sherman, Joseph Sylvia, Henry Thol, Jr., Newton Thompson, and Silas Thompson. 

Initial Attack, Burn Injury, Fatality, Entrapment