The Great Idaho Fire of 1910 - Famous Fires on Waymarking.com

Hurricane-force winds developed and caused around 3,000 smaller wildfires to combine into a massive firestorm that was estimated to be 185 miles long and 65 miles wide, covering 3 million acres, taking more than 85 lives and annihilating the towns of Wallace, Taft, Haugan and DeBorgia.

The Forest Service was only 5 years old at the time of the Big Burn, and this fire marks the singular event that helped shape the U.S. Forest Service and the methods and philosophy used in fighting fires. It was determined that it would be healthy for the forests to let fires burn and prevent the enormous wildfires associated with accumulated forest debris.

The two signs at this location read:

1) "The Big Blowup
In two terrifying days in August 1910, nearly the whole of the Bitteroot Mountain Range was consumed in a fiery holocaust.

Walls of flame pushed by hurricane force winds raced through the region, trapping fire crews, destroying mines, homesteads, and igniting towns. Much of the town of Wallace, Idaho was left in ashes.

In the end, over 1,700 fires ravaged three million acres throughout the western U.S. and killed at least eighty-five people in the summer of 1910. August 20th and 21st were the two most grueling and deadly days of that searing hell.

Amidst the political haggling over the newly formed U.S. Forest Service, not only its mission, but its very existence was in question. With abnormally low amounts of precipitation and soaring, high temperatures, disaster was inevitable. The heroic efforts of the Forest Service's overwhelmed rangers, who lost 78 firefighters in the firestorm, touched the hearts of the public and prompted legislative action. The Great Fire of that summer of 1910, led to significant changes in the nation's forest fire fighting policy and continues to influence forest management to this day."
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2) "The Big Blowup
The Human Fight, The Human Price
Crews disembarking trains were a diverse group of laborers with little knowledge of the rugged northern Rockies and almost no firefighting experience. Many of their names are known, however many are unknown and their histories will never be recorded. What is certain, is all would face an unimaginable display of spectacular occurrence of natural forces and endure conditions almost beyond belief. For many it was their final moment.

The Nine Mile Cemetery, a peaceful, wooded setting one mile north of Wallace, is the final resting place of several victims of the Great Fire of 1910, including twelve firefighters.

The Pulaski Tunnel trailhead is a mile south of Wallace. The trail's two-mile course takes hikers to a viewpoint across the creek from the historic Pulaski Tunnel, the abandoned mine where "Big Ed" Pulaski saved all but six of his 45-man firefighting crew in the Great Fire of 1910. The site's peaceful and idyllic setting belies the terrible events of a hundred years ago."
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The signs are located in Wallace, Idaho and were dedicated in August, 2010 (the 100 year anniversary)

Group Responsible for Placement: State of Idaho

Web link(s) for additional information:
(visit link)

Type of Structure: other Other: Wildfire Fire Date: 08/01/1910 Structure status: Plaque Cause of Fire: Wildfires (probably lightning) Documentation of the fire: [Web Link] Construction Date: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Give a narrative of your experience. Did you learn anything after reading about the fire in the waymark? Photos are always welcome too. Please no virtual visits.

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