Firefighter safety remains paramount

This week marks the 75th anniversary of the Mann Gulch Fire that tragically killed 13 of 16 smokejumpers who were sent into the Gates of the Mountains near Helena on Aug. 5, 1949. It remains among the deadliest days in the history of this elite class of aerial firefighters.

What started as a small fire in the steep and rocky gulch instantly turned into an inescapable wall of flames fanned by 40 mph gusts that consumed some 3,000 acres in a matter of minutes. It’s a miracle that three men survived the inferno that was described by fire researcher Richard Rothermel as “a race that couldn’t be won.” 

“Probably the most dangerous influence was the wind,” Rothermel wrote. “The fire could have covered 100 yards in less than a minute.”