The Big Burn of 1910

August 20th and 21st saw one of the largest wildfires on record in the Inland Northwest, known as the Great Fire of 1910, the Big Blowup, the Devil’s Broom Fire or the Big Burn. The official cause of the Big Burn was never officially determined, but contemporary forest rangers described that summer as being particularly hot and dry, creating the perfect conditions for a fire of its magnitude. The fire ultimately destroyed millions of acres of land, and killed at least 85 people, not counting those who suffered from long-term health problems due to burns and smoke inhalation.

That August was particularly fiery, even before the Big Burn began. Fires were popping up across the entire West Coast, with reports of lethal fires as far as California reaching local papers like The Spokesman-Review in the days before the burn. Firefighters and civilians alike were busy combating the countless fires throughout the Inland Northwest, spreading the U.S. Forest Service thin.

Conditions rapidly deteriorated on August 20th, when strong winds and dry weather caused the many small fires in northern Idaho and western Montana to converge into a single, massive wall of flames. The fire moved swiftly through the Inland Northwest, destroying houses, mining operations, farms and acres upon acres of private and federal forests. People took flight without knowing what would be safe the next day, leaving behind homes, possessions and families. Trains rushed from fire zones, giving people a final chance at escape.

The Town that Wouldn’t Stop the Party

One town in the raging inferno’s path was an infamous hub of sex, booze and crime: Taft, Montana. Nicknamed “The Wickedest Town in America” by a visiting Chicago reporter, Taft was a lawless place, with an estimated 30 saloons, 500 prostitutes in a population of 2,500, and a murder rate author Timothy Egan described as “higher than New York City.” The local forest ranger supervisors detested the rowdy little town, and had trouble summoning urgency among the indulgent public when evacuation was inevitable. One of the firefighting techniques used during the Big Burn was called “backfiring,” or using controlled burns to limit the fuel available for the moving wildfire and corralling it away from towns. Taft became a target of official and volunteer firefighters, not to save with a backfire, but to pre-burn its kindling of shellacked buildings and liquor barrels. This finally stirred some of the public to action, moving them to evacuate via train. The rest, though, stayed until the town was crumbling, valiantly attempting to drink the remaining stores of alcohol before the fire could claim it. When the fire eventually reached Taft, everyone had been evacuated, and the flammable remains were destroyed, leaving nothing but a memory of the Wickedest Town in America to be swallowed up by the Montana wilderness once more.

Survival and Heroism

Perhaps the most famous story of survival from the Big Burn comes from E.C. Pulaski, a ranger who saved the lives of over forty men who had been fighting fires in the Coeur d’Alene mountains. As the fires raged and telephone lines were damaged, firefighting teams lost contact with their supervisors, leaving them to their own instincts when it came to fighting fires, or knowing when it was time for escape. Inexperienced as a ranger, but an advantageous familiarity with northern Idaho terrain, Pulaski took charge when he and his crew were cut off from help. He collected forty-five people from the woods and transport them through the flames into a mine shaft. Pulaski kept back the flames using wet blankets, throwing them over the collapsed survivors and covering the wooden support beams to prevent collapse. When one of the panicked men attempted to flee the tunnel, Pulaski pulled his gun and announced, “The first man who tries to leave this tunnel I will shoot.” All but five of the men who followed Pulaski into the mine shaft survived.

Pulaski’s isn’t the only story of miraculous survival, or tragic loss. In its August 22nd issue, The Spokesman Review recorded brief accounts of apparent incidents that occurred during the inferno, and printed lists of lost property and lost lives. Journalists notified the public of a man once proclaimed dead, but found alive shortly after. They claimed that Newport, Washington, had not caught fire, but also had not slept. They wrote about a boy escaping Athol, Idaho, on horseback after surviving severe burns at his family’s farm, and many men who were overcome by fire while rushing home to their families.

Spokane Offers Aid

The similarities of this fire to the Great Spokane Fire of 1889 were likely not lost on any Spokanite. Calls for help from Idaho were heeded by Spokane nurses in particular, as published in the August 22nd issue of The Spokesman-Review. Nurses from Spokane hospitals made the journey to Wallace, Idaho to provide support for exhausted medical personnel, who were trying to treat survivors. Travel during fire season is dangerous, and there was no knowing if a new fire might start. Mayor Nelson Pratt was quoted saying, “Of course, it is dangerous for Spokane to send away much of its fire apparatus, for it is not known at what minute it may be needed here, and needed bad.” But this was a risk many took, knowing how badly help was needed. “But nevertheless we shall do all in our power to relieve the terrible situation which exists in Wallace and other places,” Mayor Pratt added. The flames never reached Spokane, but dedicated citizens surged to action in fire suppression and survivor assistance almost as soon as the Big Burn began.

Wildfires like the Big Burn are traumatic events for entire communities, bringing with them destruction and loss the likes of which can only be felt, not described. This won’t be the last time Spokane has been touched by the flames, but it also isn’t the first. Between rebuilding after the Great Fire in 1889 and extending a hand of aide to neighbors after the Big Burn, Spokane has survived this before, and will do so again.

Research for this article references: The Spokesman-Review issues from August 19-22, 1910, “Surrounded by Forest Fires, My Most Exciting Experience as a Forest Ranger,” by E.C. Pulaski, “The 1910 Fires” by The Forest History Society, and The Big Burn by Timothy Egan.

Images sourced from the University of Idaho Library.

Featured image: “Forest Fire, 1910 – Harlan Ridge”, Big Burn Collection, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections, https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/bigburn/items/bigburn41.html

Image 1: “Forest Fire Aftermath, 1910 – Wallace, street view [03]”, Big Burn Collection, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections, https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/bigburn/items/bigburn27.html

Image 2: “Mr. Morris at the Pulaski tunnel in Placer Creek. 1910 forest fire.”, Big Burn Collection, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections, https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/bigburn/items/bigburn35.html

Image 3: “Forest Fire Aftermath, 1910 – Wallace, elevated view of town [01]”, Big Burn Collection, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections, https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/bigburn/items/bigburn10.html

By Teagan Canady