On August 18, 1937, a lightning strike started the Blackwater Fire in Shoshone National Forest, approximately west of Cody, Wyoming, United States. Fifteen firefighters were killed by the forest fire when a dry weather front caused the winds to suddenly increase and change direction. The fire quickly spread into dense forest, creating spot fires that trapped some of the firefighters in a firestorm. Nine firefighters died during the fire and six more died shortly thereafter from severe burns and respiratory complications. Another 38 firefighters were injured. The fire killed more professional wildland firefighters in the U.S. than any other in the 103 years between the Great Fire of 1910 and the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013.
The Blackwater Fire consumed of old-growth forest dominated by Douglas fir trees on the west slopes of Clayton Mountain. At the time the firestorm occurred, the temperatures were about and the relative humidity was only 6 percent. Though most of the firefighters consisted of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) employees, they were led by more experienced United States Forest Service (USFS) fire managers. Firefighters in the first half of the 20th century used mostly hand tools to suppress wildfires, and all gear was carried by the firefighters or by pack animals. Weather forecasting and radio communication were generally poor or nonexistent.
Investigations and analysis of the event led the USFS to develop better ways to provide a more immediate response to combat fires; one of them was the development of the smokejumper program in 1939. Additionally, the Ten Standard Firefighting Orders, a standardized set of wildland firefighting principles, were developed in 1957. A year after the tragedy, survivors and their fellow employees constructed several memorials at the scene of the incident.
Geographical setting
Blackwater Creek originates on the north slope of Sheep Mesa at an altitude of in Shoshone National Forest and flows north through Blackwater Canyon. The creek is long and descends a steep gradient before it empties into the North Fork Shoshone River, across from U.S. Routes 14/16/20 immediately west of Mummy Cave and east of the border of Yellowstone National Park. The firestorm deaths occurred on the west slopes of Clayton Mountain, approximately south by trail into the canyon. The canyon consists of numerous ravines and small ridges, which form a washboard landscape shaped by extensive erosion of the volcanic igneous rock that constitutes the Absaroka Range. The canyon has moderate to steep slopes with a gradient of 20 to 60 percent. The regional flora is an upper montane mixed-conifer forest dominated by Douglas fir trees. When the fire swept through the area the forest was dense and mature with heavy fuel loads from dead trees, which also had dead limbs extending to the ground, providing a fuel ladder for fire to easily spread into the tree tops.
Early 20th-century firefighting
In 1937, firefighters did not have portable radios for rapid on-scene communication or helicopters to bring supplies and provide water drops. Firefighters had some access to gas-powered portable water pumps (two were set up on the Blackwater Fire), but most used backpack pumps that were manually operated and held limited water. Firelines were dug by handcrews using shovels, axes and pulaskis (a tool that could be used as either an axe or a hoe). Most firefighters wore cotton and wool clothing, which provided poor protection from flames. Additionally, they did not have fire shelters, which first became available in the 1960s but were not mandatory until 1977. Later researchers believe the use of shelters might have saved lives depending on where the firefighters were when the firestorm occurred.
