Rattlesnake Fire 1953

On July 9, 1953, The Rattlesnake Fire was ignited on the Mendocino National Forest, California. The fire crew from New Tribes Mission, under the direction of U.S. Forest Service overhead, was deployed on the fire in brushy Powder House Canyon. The handcrew was suppressing a spot fire in 40-year old chaparral brush when another spot fire made a rapid run under the influence of a wind shift, pushing the fire down the canyon toward the crew. The crew attempted to escape the advancing flames through the thick brush. Fifteen firefighters perished, nine other crewmembers barely escaped.

Those firefighters lost on the Rattlesnake Fire: Allan Boddy, Sergio Colles, Benjamin Dinnel, Paul Gifford, Harold Griffis, Glenn Hitchcock, David Johnson, Robert Mieden, Darrel Noah, Robert Powers, Harold Rowe, Raymond Sherman, Daniel Short, Stanley Vote, and Hobard Whitehouse.

Initial Attack, Entrapment, Fatality, Hand Crews, Entrapment