Memorial held for victims in Mann Gulch fire at Conrad Cemetery

A memorial was held Thursday for two Kalispell natives who died in the 1949 Mann Gulch fire as part of commemorations surrounding the 75-year anniversary of the tragic blaze.  

Dozens gathered in C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery on Aug. 8 to commemorate Henry Thol Jr. and William Hellman, two smokejumpers who died in the fire. The U.S. Forest Service and National Smokejumper Association organized the services.  

Before the event, medallions were installed on each gravestone in honor of the men’s service. Two parachutes formerly used by smokejumpers were hung up in nearby trees. 

The Mann Gulch fire was sparked by dry lightning in the Gates of Mountains Wilderness of Helena National Forest. A combination of high heat, dry grass and shifting winds caused it to grow from about 60 acres to a 3,000-acre fire in minutes.  

The fire claimed the lives of 13 of the 16 men sent to tame it. The bulk of them were smokejumpers, a team of wildland firefighters trained to parachute in and suppress a wildfire.  

Dan Roberson and Chuck Underwood organized and spoke at the services. Both are members of the National Smokejumper Association and former smokejumpers themselves.  

“These 13 are more than just smokejumpers,” Roberson said. “They were loving sons, brothers, uncles, cousins, valued friends. And for two, wonderful husbands. Let us remember them as they are described: prototypical all-American boys, adventurous, outdoorsy, smart, hardworking, fun-loving, kind, poets, pranksters and very patriotic.” 

Thol, born in 1930, was 19 years old and still enrolled in Flathead High School when the fire occurred. Roberson, who spoke about Thol’s past during the service, said it was his first year as a smokejumper. The teenager planned to eventually attend forestry school at the University of Montana. 

Roberson ended the service with a prayer for Thol. Flowers were handed to John Thol, the slain smokejumper’s brother, who was present. He told the crowd that he was surprised and pleased with the size of the crowd.  

Underwood led Hellman’s service while a handful of Hellman’s relatives sat near his headstone. Underwood gave a speech about Hellman, who was born in 1925 and also attended Flathead County High School. He enlisted in the Navy and later the Marine Corps. 

After his time in service, he married Geraldine Mather and trained as a smokejumper in Missoula. Earlier in 1949, he also took part in a ceremonial jump on the White House lawn. 

Underwood said Hellman had been hesitant to go because of the arrival of his soon to be born son but was honored to be asked to partake in the ceremony. His young son died months later. 

Hellman planned to be a botany teacher and had around three months left at Colorado State College before completing his degree when the Mann Gulch fire broke out, said Underwood. 

Hellman died in the hospital from injuries sustained in the fire.

Both ceremonies featured the American Legion Color Guard.  

Hellman’s wife remarried. Her daughter, Genine Berard joined Hellman’s cousin, Mary-June Jankowiak, for the ceremony. 

“They call him Bill here, but we always called him Willy,” said Jankowiak, who was only two-months old when Hellman died. She said that after the death of Hellman’s son, his parents, whom she called Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary, treated her as their own grandchild.   

Jankowiak and Berard recalled going over Hellman’s parent’s Fifth Avenue West home frequently.  

“Aunt Mary and Uncle Jim, [Hellman’s] parents, were so wonderful with kids,” Jankowiak said. She reminisced about eating kolaches and driving in her uncle’s old 1936 Ford.   

Jankowiak described “Willy” as a woodsman and man of honor.  

“He truly believed in everything he was doing,” she said.  

Berard said that most of the stories she heard about Hellman came from her grandmother, because her mother would often refrain from talking about him.  

“After she lost Bill and then the baby, she was pretty closed,” Berard said.  “That was a really hard time for her.”

Berard recalled eventually asking her mother, who passed away in 2023, about the call she received from Hellman after the fire.  

“She remembers that one of the things that he told her was that he was really sorry that he’d lost his boots. And I was like ‘Why is that a big deal?’” She joked. “Here he is in the hospital in Helena and that’s what he’s worried about,”   

Berard hiked Mann Gulch, following the route the smokejumpers took to escape the fire.  

“It is so steep in there at some points,” she said. “I can’t imagine trying to run that with the fire.”  

UNDERWOOD FOUGHT fires in the 1960s for four years as a smokejumper, starting at 19 years old. He said that the first jump is less scary than the hundredth — he did not understand at first the potential danger.  

Most jumps are done high in the mountains, he said, where thin air leads to a less-than-comfortable landing.   

“You come in like a ton of bricks,” he said.  

Many times he landed during thunderstorms and high winds.  

“Your jump spot is usually a choice between rocks, trees and cliffs,” he said.  

Of those three choices, trees are the best option, Underwood said.  

He said that jumpers were equipped with repel gear so they could leave their parachute in a tree. Underwood used a shovel and pulaski to dig trenches and chop trees around the fire to help prevent the spread.  

“We have a saying,” Underwood joked. “It’s the world’s best job. The government will take you to places you pay to go see. Give you a free ride in their airplane, give you a carnival ride to the ground. And the good news is, you won’t have to build a fire to stay warm; it’ll have one waiting for you.”  

Underwood said that the entire pack — including chutes, food and tools — starts at 120 pounds and would be carried from two to four days.  

“There are no trails,” he said. “So you are fighting your way up and down.”  

“And that was the hardest part of the job,” Underwood added.  

While the Mann Gulch fire left a lasting mark on the families of the fallen firefighters, it had a profound effect on how wildfires are fought.  

“It’s an incredible historical lesson,” said Kevin Devine, the area aviation officer for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. “It is invaluable to our present-day firefighters to remember the lessons of the past.”  

A memorial service will be held for a third smokejumper killed in the fire, Philip McVey, on Aug. 10 at 2 p.m. at the Ronan Cemetery in Ronan.  

Jack Underhill can be reached at junderhill@dailyinterlake.com and 758-4407. 

    Dawn Underwood adheres the military identification tag of William J. Hellman to his gravestone during a pair of graveside memorial tributes for Hellman and Henry J. Thol Jr. at C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell on Thursday, Aug. 8. Thol and Hellman were two of thirteen firefighters who perished in the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Eric Shelton, a former smokejumper and member of the National Smokejumper Association, presents a bouquet of flowers to the family of William J. Hellman during a pair of graveside memorial tributes for Hellman and Henry J. Thol Jr. at C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell on Thursday, Aug. 8. Thol and Hellman were two of thirteen firefighters who perished in the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Members of the United Veterans of Flathead Valley Honor Guard present colors during a pair of graveside memorial tributes for Henry J. Thol Jr. and William J. Hellman at C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell on Thursday, Aug. 8. Thol and Hellman were two of thirteen firefighters who perished in the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    The gravestone of Henry J. Thol Jr. during a pair of graveside memorial tributes for Henry J. Thol Jr. and William J. Hellman at C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell on Thursday, Aug. 8. Thol and Hellman were two of thirteen firefighters who perished in the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Members of the United Veterans of Flathead Valley Honor Guard present colors during a pair of graveside memorial tributes for Henry J. Thol Jr. and William J. Hellman at C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell on Thursday, Aug. 8. Thol and Hellman were two of thirteen firefighters who perished in the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider