The most deadly wildfire in terms of wildland firefighters killed in the United States happened seven miles west of Glenwood Springs, Colorado on a blazing hot July day. We are approaching the anniversary of that horrible afternoon and a book called Fire On The Mountain, by John MacLean, was my fieldguide while trying to reconstruct the fire.
On the afternoon of July 6, 1994, the South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain spotted back across a drain and beneath firefighters working for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. Failing to outrun the flames, 12 firefighters perished. Two helitack crew members on top of Hell's Gate Ridge also died when they tried to outrun the fire to the northwest. Here is my attempt to document the tragedy, point out the unforgiving mistakes made and honor those who died.
Please do not forget Storm King Mountain!
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