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Fire Fighters Memorial

Blackwater Fire August 20-24 1937 Shoshone National Forest

Memorial on North Fork Shoshone River, Blackwater Creek in Shoshone NF, Rocky Mountains near Wapiti, WY

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“The fourth deadliest wildfire in the nation’s history.” (USFS)

Memorial:

This marks the beginning of the Fire Fighters’ Memorial Trail which follows Blackwater Creek five miles to the place of origin of the fire, and thence to other points of interest. This fire was controlled after burning over 1254 acres of forest. Fifteen fire fighters lost their lives and thirty-nine others were injured when the fire was whipped up by a sudden gale on August 21. Signs and monuments mark the important locations along this trail, including the fire camps, the first aid station, Clayton Gulch where eight men were killed and the rocky knoll where Ranger Post gathered his crew to escape the fire. (Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites and Trails)

Constructed By:

Forest Service 1939 Department of Agriculture FIRE FIGHTERS MEMORIAL United States Civilian Conservation Corps Alfred G. Clayton, Forest Ranger. James T. Saban, Foreman. Paul E. Tyrrell, Foreman. Rex A. Hale Jr., Technician. Billy Lea, Engineer Aid. Clyde Allen, Roy Berens, Ambroccio Garza, John B. Gerdes, Will C. Griffith, Mack T. Mayabb, George E. Rodgers, Earnest T. Seelke, Rubin D. Sherry, William H. Whitlock. (Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites and Trails)

Fire Summary: Courtesy of National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG)

“On August 21, 1937, the tragic Blackwater Fire caused the death of 15 firefighters and burned approximately 1,700 acres of Shoshone National Forest land, near Cody, Wyoming.

An electrical storm occurred in the general vicinity of Blackwater Creek on Wednesday, August 18, causing a fire which was not detected until August 20. At the time of detection, the fire appeared to be only two acres in size and was located in the drainage bottom. By the evening of Friday, August 20, the fire had grown to approximately 200 acres, and there were 58 men and seven overhead constructing fireline in an orderly manner and with good speed. Early Saturday morning the man-power was about evenly distributed along the two main flanks of the fire. As more crews arrived and line construction advanced to the east on the hottest section of fireline, a blowup of the fire occurred at approximately 1545 caused by the combination of an undiscovered spot and the passage of a dry cold front. In this conflagration, nine deaths occurred directly. Six additional men were so badly burned that death ensued, and 38 additional men suffered injuries.

Preliminary reports on this lightning fire showed that initial action was vigorous, quite remarkably so, considering the remote location of the fire and that the Shoshone National Forest was considered a low-danger forest. The forest didn’t even have lookout stations. At the time, the Blackwater Fire was responsible for the largest loss of life from a single national forest fire since 1910.

The Blackwater Fire was the first fatality fire to have significant investigation and study of the event done immediately after the tragedy. This analysis of the fire eventually led to the development of the smokejumper program, a management action to address the time-delay problems encountered for crews responding to the fire.” (NWCG)

Further Research and Reading

National Wildfire Coordinating Group. “Staff Ride to the Blackwater Fire | NWCG.” Accessed May 4, 2024. https://www.nwcg.gov/wfldp/toolbox/staff-ride/library/blackwater-fire.

Taxonomy

Classified As

Memorial

Waterbodies

North Fork Shoshone River

River

Blackwater Creek

Creek