Battlement Mesa Fire Memorial to 4 firefighters who lost their lives on this lightening fire that started on July 15, 1976: air tanker pilot, Donald Goodman and three members of the Mormon Lake Hotshot Crew - Anthony Czak, Stephen Furey, and Scott Nelson. Situated at a rest stop along Highway 70 that overlooks the area, the memorial consists of an interpretive display/map, plaque, burned pieces of cedar trees, a piece of the air tanker, and fire tools.
"The Battlement Creek Fire of 1976 was located on Bureau of Land Management lands just outside of Grand Valley, (now Parachute), Colorado on Morrisania Mesa. Battlement Creek is approximately 8 miles long and flows in a northwesterly direction to the Colorado River. The fire burned the east side of Battlement Creek. Elevations on the fire range from 6,200 feet to 8,400. Slope percentage varies from 10 percent above County Road 302 (Battlement Road) to 75 percent in the chute just below the ridgeline.
A severe frost occurred a month earlier in this same location which killed a high percentage of the leaves on the Gambel's oak. The fire started on July 11th from a lighting storm that went through the area. On July 15th it escaped containment and a Class II Overhead Team (now known as Type 2 Incident Management Teams) was ordered. On July 15th, there were 198 fires reported on the daily Situation Report from the Boise Interagency Fire Center (now known as NIFC, the National Interagency Fire Center). The majority of the fires were in California, Nevada and Utah. During this fire the Forest Service was working with the Bureau of Land Management to establish a national plan to exchange and utilize manpower and equipment.
The Grand Junction District of the Bureau of Land Management was responsible for suppression of the fire. Approximately 13 crews totaling 270 people and approximately 20 overhead were assigned to the fire.
On Friday July 16th a B-26 air tanker crashed on a retardant dropping mission on the Battlement Creek Fire. The accident occurred at 0856 hrs, approximately 1 mile south of the fire. The pilot was killed.
On Saturday July 17th, three firefighters were killed and a fourth severely burned during a burn-over while working on the Battlement Creek Fire. All victims were members of the Mormon Lake Hotshot Crew, a trained 20 person Forest Service fire crew stationed on the Coconino National Forest in Arizona.
The Battlement Creek Fire resulted in some substantial changes in federal wildland fire management. This incident was the catalyst for the mandatory use of fire shelters and fire resistant clothing. It also demonstrated the need for closer interagency coordination between federal, state, and local wildland fire agencies." (from (
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The above coordinates are for the location of the plaque. There is a flag on private land at the location of the plane crash. The flag is visible from County Road 302 and may be photographed. The road is not a 4-wheel drive road. The coordinates for a photo of the flag at the plane crash site are N39° 24.851, W107° 57.283.