Bandon Burns! 1914 & 1936 - Bandon, OR
Posted by: 
silverquill
N 43° 07.136 W 124° 24.545
10T E 385368 N 4774985
In 1914 & 1936 there were fires that destroyed most of Bandon, Oregon, and important port city on the southern coast. The latter fire was especially devastating. The history of these fires is documented in special displays at the Historical Museum.
Waymark Code: WM2VJ0
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 12/26/2007
Views: 49
It is uncertain how the 1936 fire started. But, what kept it going was the gorse that, once planted as an ornamental shrub, now grew wild everywhere. The plant was very oily and very spiny. Dead leaves from other trees fell into the gorse and stuck there, where they dried to a crisp. Once the fire got started, it had plenty of fuel in the gorse, which grew in almost everybody's yard. The oil of the plant through off oily sparks that easily moved the fire from house to house.
The fire started in the residential section, then moved to the business section, which was just over the hill. The Coquille River lighthouse aided the firefighters by directing light across the river. But the fight was futile. The water mains were damaged, then fire kept burning all the hoses, and the gorse just kept burning.
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Soon people started fleeing for nearby communities. Some went across the river to seek refuge in the dunes. The lighthouse keepers provided water and shelter to survivors and homeless. Even the telephone company was burned down, so ships' radios were the only source of communication.
Eventually all but 16 buildings out of 500, were burned down. The high school was one of the few buildings that survived.