The Great Fire of 1910 (also commonly referred to as the Big Blowup, the Big Burn, or the Devil's Broom fire) was a wildfire in the Inland Northwest region of the United States which burned three million acres (4,700 sq mi; 12,100 km<sup>2</sup>) in Northern Idaho and Western Montana in the summer of 1910, with extensions into Eastern Washington and Southeast British Columbia. after strong winds caused numerous smaller fires to combine into a firestorm of unprecedented size. It killed 87 people, mostly firefighters, destroyed numerous manmade structures, including several entire towns, and burned more than three million acres of forest with an estimated one billion dollars' worth of timber lost. It is believed to be the largest, although not the deadliest, forest fire in U.S. history.
In the aftermath of the fire, the U.S. Forest Service received considerable recognition for its firefighting efforts, including a doubling of its budget from Congress. The outcome was to highlight wildland firefighters as heroes while raising public awareness of national nature conservation. The fire is often considered a significant impetus in the development of early wildfire prevention and suppression strategies. The drought resulted in forests with abundant dry fuel, in an area which had previously experienced dependable autumn and winter moisture. Hundreds of fires were ignited by hot cinders flung from locomotives, sparks, lightning, The arrival of the Buffalo Soldiers troops almost doubled the black population of Idaho.
The fire was finally extinguished when another cold front swept in, bringing steady rain and some early snowfall. It remains the second deadliest incident in the history of firefighting in the United States, only being surpassed by the September 11 attacks.
Perhaps the most famous story of survival is that of Ranger Ed Pulaski, a U.S. Forest Service ranger who led a large crew of about 44 men to safety in an abandoned prospect mine outside of Wallace, Idaho, just as they were about to be overtaken by the fire. Pulaski has since been widely celebrated as a hero for his efforts; the mine tunnel in which he and his crew sheltered from the fire, now known as the Pulaski Tunnel, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Damage
thumb|[[Wallace, Idaho|Wallace after the Big Blowup]]
Several towns were completely destroyed by the
- Idaho:
- Falcon
- Grand Forks
- Montana:
- De Borgia
- Haugan
- Henderson
- Taft
- Tuscor
In Idaho, one-third of the town of Wallace was burned to the ground, Other towns with severe damage included Burke, Kellogg, Murray, and Osburn, all in Idaho.
One of the people who fought the fire, Ferdinand Silcox, went on to become the fifth chief of the Forest Service. Influenced by the devastation of the Big Burn, Silcox promoted the "10 a.m." policy, with the goal of suppressing all fires by 10 a.m. of the day following their report. It was decided that the Forest Service was to prevent and battle every wildfire.
See also
- Avery Depot, a train depot in Avery, Idaho used as an evacuation site
- Great Fire of Spokane City, 1889
- Baudette fire of 1910
- Pulaski, a firefighting tool later designed by and named for Ed Pulaski
- Yacolt Burn
References
Further reading
- Cohen, Steve, and Donald C. Miller (1978). The Big Burn: The Northwest's Forest Fire of 1910. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company.
- Egan, Timothy (2009). The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
- "When the Mountains Roared: Stories of the 1910 Fire". Forest History Society.
- Spencer, Betty Goodwin (1956). The Big Blowup. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers.
- Pyne, Stephen (2001, 2008). Year of the Fires: The Story of the Great Fires of 1910. New York: Viking; Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Co.
External links
- The 1910 Fires, a history of the Great Fire of 1910 from the Forest History Society website
- "1910 Fire In Mineral County" – Mineral County Historical Society, c/o Mineral County Information and Commerce