The South Canyon Fire was a 1994
wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...
that took the lives of 14 wildland firefighters on
Storm King Mountain, near
Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Glenwood Springs is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of Garfield County, Colorado, Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 9,963 at the 2020 Uni ...
, on July 6, 1994. It is often also referred to as the "Storm King" fire.
It was the subject of
John Maclean's book ''
Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon Fire''.
Fire origin
On July 2, 1994, lightning sparked a fire near the base of Storm King Mountain, west of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Initially small and well away from private property, the fire was assigned low priority and allowed to smolder for the first two days. By July 4, the fire had burned only .
Nearby residents of Canyon Creek Estates, however, were growing increasingly concerned by the persistent blaze, prompting local authorities to take action. Due to the uneven terrain, and the efforts necessary to coordinate the incident response, it was decided that the fight against the fire would commence the following morning.
Incident
On July 5, firefighters began their approach from the west at the east end of Canyon Creek Estates, making a difficult march up the rugged terrain along which is the present location of the Storm King Mountain Memorial Trail. Firefighters began constructing
firelines to contain the blaze. The fight was joined that evening by
smokejumper
Smokejumpers are specially trained wildland firefighters who provide an initial attack response on remote wildland fires. They are inserted at the site of the fire by parachute.
In addition to performing the initial attack on wildfires, they ...
s who began aiding in the construction of the fireline, working well into the night of July 5 but quitting early due to "danger from rolling rocks."
The following day, twenty
Hotshots from
Prineville, Oregon
Prineville is a city in and the seat of Crook County, Oregon, United States. It was named for the first merchant located in the present location, Barney Prine. The population was 9,253 at the 2010 census.
History
Prineville was founded in 187 ...
, were rushed to the fire to aid in the battle. That afternoon, a dry cold front passed through the area, increasing the winds and fire activity. By 4 p.m., the fire had "spotted" beyond the fireline and below the firefighters' location to the west and began to race towards them up the steep, densely vegetated terrain.
Casualties
Twelve firefighters were unable to outrun the blaze and perished. Two more
helitack
Helitack crews are teams of wildland firefighters who are transported by helicopter to wildfires. Helicopters provide rapid transport, enabling helitack crews to quickly respond and assess a wildfire situation. Helitack crews may land near a wi ...
firefighters were also killed as they tried to flee to the northwest. Those who died:
* Prineville Hotshots: Kathi Beck, Tamera Bickett, Scott Blecha, Levi Brinkley, Douglas Dunbar, Terri Hagen, Bonnie Holtby, Rob Johnson, Jon Kelso.
* Missoula Smokejumper: Don Mackey
* McCall Smokejumpers: Roger Roth, Jim Thrash.
* Helitack: Robert Browning, Jr., Richard Tyler.
Memorials
![Storm King Mountain Memorial Trail](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Storm_King_Mountain_Memorial_Trail.JPG)
The Storm King Mountain Memorial Trail, closely following the actual path the firefighters hiked to fight the blaze, leads visitors to the site. Plaques and memorials line the trail explaining the events and paying homage to those who fell. Crosses were installed where each person fell. Memorials have also been constructed at Two Rivers Park in
Glenwood Springs
Glenwood Springs is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 9,963 at the 2020 United States Census. Glenwood Springs is located at the confluence of the Roaring Fork ...
, at Ochoco Creek Park in
Prineville, Oregon
Prineville is a city in and the seat of Crook County, Oregon, United States. It was named for the first merchant located in the present location, Barney Prine. The population was 9,253 at the 2010 census.
History
Prineville was founded in 187 ...
, and in McDonald Forest's Peavy Arboretum near
Corvallis, Oregon
Corvallis ( ) is a city and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2020 United ...
.
Footnotes
Garfield County, Colorado
Wildfires in Colorado
1994 fires in the United States
1994 natural disasters in the United States
1990s wildfires in the United States
1994 in Colorado
White River National Forest
July 1994 events in the United States
Death in Colorado
History of firefighting
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