The Pain Remains, 75-years After Montana’s Worst Fire Tragedy

If you had been listening to KGVO 75 years ago today you would have been hearing the first reports of the terrible tragedy that had killed 13 firefighters in a hellish inferno at Mann Gulch in Central Montana.

Even now, three-quarters of a century later, it's a tale of pain, yet also heroism and service.

It's also a story of how the sacrifice continues to protect tens of thousands of firefighters down to this very day.

Get our free mobile app

Despite all the research and study over the years, there remain questions over the full details of the Mann Gulch Fire near the Gates of the Mountains. Unanswered questions about how 13 men, 12 of them "smokejumpers" could have been caught in a massive 3-thousand acre blow up.

But Monday's somber ceremony outside the capitol in Helena focused instead on the tremendous loss and the service of the men who died after dropping into the fire zone from the place now known as Miss Montana.

Saving lives forever

Governor Greg Gianforte and other speakers noted it was the start of fire science that has saved countless lives since.

"The historic Man Gulch event was truly a tragic day in Montana history and for our firefighting community, especially with the loss of 13 lives," Gianforte said. 

Each fatality is a tragedy that carries painful lessons with it, but these lessons have helped keep thousands of other firefighters alive for the last 75 years." -Governor Greg Gianforte

Today the Forest Service still refers to the Mann Gulch as one of its worst days ever. Yet it also led to research to better understand the weather and environmental conditions and the effect on fires, especially in a "blowup" scenario.

Not Forgotten 

Noted Missoula author John Maclean, whose father Norman, penned one of the first accounts of the fire, assured the 80 relatives who had traveled to the memorial, that the loss of their young men is still on the minds of Montanans, and firefighters everywhere.

"Mann Gulch has not faded into obscurity but has risen from the ashes to become a cultural legacy for the wildland fire community, Montana and the nation," Maclean emphasized. 

With the performance of a song about the terrible day, and the sobering presence of a Forest Service honor guard, the hot afternoon was a reminder of the terrible tragedy of Mann Gulch, and the legacy of those young men who never returned.