Great Fire of 1910
Wording and name
| ← Previous revision | Revision as of 16:57, 20 April 2026 | ||
| Line 33: | Line 33: | ||
}} |
}} |
||
{{maplink|frame=yes|frame-align=right|frame-width=|frame-height=|from=Great Fire of 1910.map|frame-latitude=47.5|frame-longitude=-115|zoom=5|text=Perimeter of Great Fire of 1910 ([[c:Data:Great Fire of 1910.map|map data]])}} |
{{maplink|frame=yes|frame-align=right|frame-width=|frame-height=|from=Great Fire of 1910.map|frame-latitude=47.5|frame-longitude=-115|zoom=5|text=Perimeter of Great Fire of 1910 ([[c:Data:Great Fire of 1910.map|map data]])}} |
||
The '''Great Fire of 1910''' ( |
The '''Great Fire of 1910''' (often referred to as the '''Brown Blowup''', the '''Big Burn''', or the '''Devil's Broom fire''') was a [[wildfire]] in the [[Inland Northwest]] region of the United States which burned three million acres (4,700 sq mi; 12,100 km2) in [[Idaho Panhandle|Northern Idaho]] and [[Western Montana]] in the summer of 1910, with extensions into [[Eastern Washington]] and [[Boundary Country|Southeast British Columbia]]. The area burned included large parts of the [[Bitterroot National Forest|Bitterroot]], [[Cabinet National Forest|Cabinet]], [[Clearwater National Forest|Clearwater]], [[Coeur d'Alene National Forest|Coeur d'Alene]], [[Flathead National Forest|Flathead]], [[Kaniksu National Forest|Kaniksu]], [[Kootenai National Forest|Kootenai]], [[Lewis and Clark National Forest|Lewis and Clark]], [[Lolo National Forest|Lolo]], and [[St. Joe National Forest|St. Joe]] [[United States National Forest|national forests]]. The fire burned over two days on the weekend of August 20–21,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ddZYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BfQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6092%2C1961240 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=Washington |title=More than seventy die in forest fires |date=August 22, 1910 |page=1}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=d9ZYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BfQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6351%2C2221312 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=Washington |title=Find twenty more dead near Big Creek |date=August 24, 1910 |page=1}} after strong winds caused numerous smaller fires to combine into a firestorm of unprecedented size. It killed 87 people,Egan, Timothy. – "Ideas & Trends: Why Foresters Prefer to Fight Fire With Fire". – ''[[The New York Times]]''. – August 20, 2000. mostly firefighters,{{cite web|url=http://library.thinkquest.org/C0119184/english/historical_fires_1910.shtml |title=1910 Fire Season |website=thinkquest.org |publisher=Inferno |access-date=July 1, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023060745/http://library.thinkquest.org/C0119184/english/historical_fires_1910.shtml |archive-date=October 23, 2013 }}(78 firefighters, 8 civilians){{cite web|url= http://www.nfpa.org/research/fire-statistics/deadliest-and-large-loss-fires/deadliest-incidents-resulting-in-the-deaths-of-8-or-more-firefighters|title= Deadliest incidents resulting in the deaths of 8 or more firefighters|date= February 2012|website= nfpa.org|publisher= [[National Fire Protection Association]]|access-date= July 1, 2013|archive-date= November 11, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131111142621/http://www.nfpa.org/research/fire-statistics/deadliest-and-large-loss-fires/deadliest-incidents-resulting-in-the-deaths-of-8-or-more-firefighters|url-status= dead}}(86 firefighters) destroyed numerous manmade structures, including several entire towns, and burned more than three million acres of forest with an estimated one billion dollars' worth of timber lost. While the exact cause of the fire is often debated, according to various [[United States Forest Service|U.S. Forest Service]] sources, the primary cause of the Big Burn was a combination of severe drought and a series of lightning storms that ignited hundreds of small fires across the [[Northern Rocky Mountains|Northern Rockies]]. Ignition sources also likely included human activity such as from railroads, homesteaders, and loggers.{{Cite web |last=Tidweel |first=Tom |date=May 22, 2010 |title=Thinking Like a Mountain, About Fire |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/speeches/thinking-mountain-about-fire |access-date=August 31, 2024 |website=U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service}} It is believed to be the largest, although not the deadliest, forest fire in U.S. history.{{cite journal|title=The West is Burning Up!|journal=Evergreen Magazine|issue=Winter Edition 1994–1995|url=http://www.idahoforests.org/fires.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001031083216/http://www.idahoforests.org/fires.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 31, 2000|access-date=April 26, 2014|author=Jim Petersen|publisher=Idaho Forest Products Commission}}{{Cite web |last=Pulver |first=Dinah Voyles |date=2024-04-29 |title=What is the biggest fire to burn in the US? The answer requires a journey through history. |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/04/29/list-of-biggest-fires-in-us-these-20-fires-were-massive/73100978007/ |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}} |
||
In the aftermath of the fire, the [[U.S. Forest Service]] received considerable recognition for its firefighting efforts, including a doubling of its budget from Congress. The outcome was to highlight wildland firefighters as heroes while raising public awareness of national nature conservation. The fire is often considered a significant impetus in the development of early [[Wildfire suppression|wildfire prevention and suppression strategies]]. |
In the aftermath of the fire, the [[U.S. Forest Service]] received considerable recognition for its firefighting efforts, including a doubling of its budget from Congress. The outcome was to highlight wildland firefighters as heroes while raising public awareness of national nature conservation. The fire is often considered a significant impetus in the development of early [[Wildfire suppression|wildfire prevention and suppression strategies]]. |
||
