As a former Forestry Dept. fire-fighter, this scares the shit out of me.

[Brother Buzz]

27. Interesting back story about Ed Pulaski - He was a hero before he designed the Pulaski

Great Fire of 1910

On August 20, 1910, Pulaski was credited with saving all but five of his 45-man crew during what is known as the "Great Idaho Fire," the "Great Fire of 1910" or the "Big Blowup." It had been unusually dry in 1910 and forest fires were rampant across the northern Rockies. Pulaski was supervising crews on the west fork of Placer Creek, about five miles south of Wallace when the fire suddenly broke out of control, overwhelming the crew.

Drawing on his knowledge of the area and of the dynamics of forest fires, Pulaski led his men to safety in an abandoned prospector's mine. After ordering his crew into the mine tunnel, he threatened to shoot with his pistol any man who left. Lying prone on the tunnel floor, all but five of the firefighters survived, though Pulaski himself was temporarily blinded by the fire and smoke. The two horses with them died from smoke inhalation. The mine entrance, now known as the Pulaski Tunnel, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Pulaski remained with the Forest Service until 1929, though the great fire's smoke and flames had damaged his lungs and eyes; during that time he petitioned the government for money to care for the graves of the dozens of firefighters killed by the 1910 fire, and for compensation for his wounds.



The photo above and below shows the Nicholson Mine entrance that US Forest Service Ranger Ed Pulaski used to shelter and save 40 out of 45 of his group of firefighters battling the Great Idaho Fire of 1910. That fire led to the expansion of the US Forest Service, and many other major changes in the way forest and wildland fires were fought in America.