Remembering the Mann Gulch fire, 75 years on
A Forest Service photo showing the locations where some of the men who died in the Mann Gulch fire fell on Aug. 5, 1949. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
An August 1949 photo shows the scope of the Mann Gulch fire near Helena, Mont., which took the lives of 12 smokejumpers and a forest ranger when a wall of flame raced up a steep hillside. The lightning-caused blaze burned more than 3,000 acres and controlling it required the efforts of more than 400 firefighters. (AP Photo)
Caskets containing the bodies of Mann Gulch fire victims await shipment home to families in this August 1949 photo. The fire Aug. 5, 1949 near Helena, Mont., took the lives of 12 smokejumpers and a forest ranger. (AP Photo/Courtesy USDA Forest Service)
The gravestone of William James Hellman, one of 13 firefighters who died in the Mann Gulch Fire in August 1949, at C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell on Thursday, July 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
William James Hellman, one of 13 firefighters who died in the Mann Gulch fire on Aug. 5, 1949. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
The gravestone of Henry James Thol, one of 13 firefighters who died in the Mann Gulch Fire in August 1949, at C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell on Thursday, July 25. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Seventy-five years ago, earth and sky turned into fire.
The flames of the Mann Gulch fire spread rapidly, overtaking 16 men sent to tame it in a gulch outside of Helena. Just three survived.
The smokejumpers lost to the flames in the Gates of the Mountains Wild Area on Aug. 5, 1949 included two Kalispell natives, Henry Thol Jr. and William Hellman. A third man, Philip McVey, is buried in Ronan.
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