Canyon Creek and Waldron creek fires
The Canyon Creek Fire of 1988 and the Waldron Creek Fire of 1931 are separated by more than 50 years. However both fires occurred along the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana and both fires were mostly forgotten in history for different reasons.
The Old Men and Fire members gathered at a Lincoln, Montana lodge on the June 23, 2025. On Tuesday of that week, the group trekked into Falls Creek adjacent to the Dearborn River drainage toward the site of a 1988 Canyon Creek entrapment. We were joined on this day by Jerry Williams, who was the Lolo National Forest Fire Staff Officer in 1988 and later became the National Fire Director. On Thursday, the group made a visit to the general location of the Waldron Creek Fire, south of the Teton Pass Ski Resort up the Teton River drainage. We were joined by Charlie Palmer, former smokejumper and author of the book about the Waldron Creek Fire. Being that we are an older group, a day of R&R was pre-planned for Wednesday between these two arduous shifts.
Individual Takeaways:
Tom Boatner, former Smokejumper Base Manager and Bureau of Land Management Chief of Fire Operations – My takeaway has to be combined because I keep thinking about the vast differences in preparedness of the 2 crews between 1931 and 1988. At Waldron Creek, it is hard to imagine a more unprepared crew of men-little or no experience, no training, no crew organization or cohesion, no PPE, crappy clothing and footwear for the job, unknown fitness levels, no commo, and a high degree of fatigue after their long journey, by train, truck and 12 mile hike in rough terrain. Their only supervisor/leader leaves them alone in the brush between 2 fires. It's surprising that more than 5 of them weren't killed. The indifference to basic safety is high.
At Canyon Creek in 1988 the Stanislaus Hotshots were vastly more prepared: solid base of experience, strong leadership, crew organization and cohesion, excellent training and fitness, decent commo, and good PPE and gear. They were stuck with a poor plan, but managed to make adjustments that put them in a position to safely shelter from the fire. That represents a lot of progress from 1931 to 1988.
I believe that since 1988 additional improvements have been made to safeguard firefighters in dangerous situations. Training is better, shelters are better, commo and aerial supervision are improved, LCES and the leadership/human factors curriculum have become a part of the culture. Weather and fire behavior forecasting also continue to improve. Those advances are critical as the fires we are seeing today have extended far beyond even the then monstrous 1988 fires in size and intensity. One thing that should not change is our commitment to hold firefighter lives more valuable than the natural and human resources they are deployed to protect.
Dan Buckley, former Hotshot Superintendent and National Park Service Fire Director – The trek out to observe the entrapment site triggered many of my own memories from my experiences on the 1988 Canyon Creek Fire. That fire exhibited some of the most impressive fire behavior I ever saw during my fire career. My takeaway from visiting the fire, is a Watchout Situation, but not the one in the "Canyon Creek Burnover Report." On page 9, the Incident Review Team singles out one Watchout Situation in play, "Building indirect line in heavy cover with unburned fuels between firefighting resources and the main fire." I believe I would add one more, "In country not seen in daylight." The reason it struck me that this Watchout is appropriate, was because the 22 people who were working out of Falls Creek up to Table Mountain had just arrived a few hours earlier and did not have a chance to thoroughly recon and scout the area prior to the fire becoming very active. This gives "seen in daylight" a whole new meaning for me. For many years I used to think it meant being out on a fire at night that I hadn't seen in the daytime. After this trip to 1988 South Canyon in 2025, I now think of "not seen in daylight" as meaning any piece of ground I am just now seeing for the first time, day or night. How often have I walked into similar situations? Plenty. This re-emphasizes the need for thorough size-up before committing to an assignment.
My takeaway from the experience of reading the book about the Waldron Creek Fire and visiting the two sites near Choteau is the importance of remembering our fallen fire brothers and sisters. During this visit I was struck by a keen sense of the "Fallen Five, " even though I had just learned of this incident and these fatalities a few months before. There are plenty of forgotten fires and fatalities existing in the wildland fire past. Talk to any surviving family member of a fallen firefighter and one of the main things they tell you they want is that their loved one be remembered.
Jim Cook, former Hotshot Superintendent and US Forest Service Training Projects Coordinator – While the Canyon Creek Fire and the Waldron Creek Fire happened in very different eras they are linked by location and storyline. The locations for these two fires are less than 30 air miles from each other in similar terrain. At Canyon Creek, 22 people deployed fire shelters in a dozer-cleared area only hours after they had arrived on the fire; all survived, however nine incurred burn injuries. At Waldron Creek, 20 firefighters were left without supervision and entrapped only hours after they arrived on the fire; five of those firefighters died. Both fires were forgotten by history for different reasons…Canyon Creek because it was overshadowed by the high profile fires in Yellowstone that same year and Waldron Creek because a young U.S. Forest Service was not interested in acknowledging any mistakes.
Our happenstance meeting that brought together Ross, the keeper of the Choteau Cemetary, and Charlie, the author of the book, is a reminder about the power of bringing our history forward with us.
Chad Fisher, former Hotshot, Smokejumper, and National Park Service Fire Director - With the advantage of time, distance, no fire on the landscape, and the knowledge of the outcome, it’s easy to see the plan in place on this piece of ground wasn’t tactically sound. As the day progressed the Stanislaus overhead saw it, but the wheels of fate were already turning. As Jerry told us as we sat on the hill, “I’d have to say at this point the Forest Service was embarrassed and was trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat.” Decisions were made with the knowledge and stressors of the moment. The outcomes were manifested in burns to people, changes in relationships, lessons learned that remained throughout the remainder of a career, and “what ifs” that will last forever. All involved, from the fire staff officer to the over-tired team members, to the sawyer on Stanislaus who saw it coming all day, were doing the best they could, so I cast no shade. To me, this incident highlights the saying, “There but for the grace of God, go I.” Because the truth is, it could have just as easily been me in a fire shelter hunkered behind that berm.
I’ve come away from the area of the Waldron Creek Fire fatalities with more questions, and more hope, than I had before our visit. No one knows exactly where the fire was, much less where the five men actually died. Apparently, the Coroner’s report discusses the difficulty of removing the bodies from approximately 7,500’ elevation, which would put them near the top of the nearby peaks. Contemporary witness statements say the five men went down into a draw in front of the fire. Just as we’ll never know where, we’ll never know why. The whole situation is shrouded in a lack of information that borders on indifference. Yet, when we visited the Choteau Cemetery and asked the Sexton for the location of the graves of Gunnarson and Allen we were met with interest, knowledge, and respect. The citizens of Choteau and Teton County have purchased nice headstones and created a small metal sculpture of a flying eagle to place between them. The interest in remembering the Forgotten Five was immediate and strong and stands in juxtaposition to what seems to have been tantamount to apathy in 1931. Now it’s time for us to do our part in ensuring they are not forgotten once again when we are gone.
Ken Kremensky, former Lakeside Fire Department Chief and current Barona Fire Department Chief – It was interesting to see the satellite photo of the smoke column laying over with the jet stream surfacing in Canyon Creek. Thanks to Jerry Williams, you can see where it drove the fire in that drainage, causing folks to shelter. The Stanislaus Hot Shot deployment site was difficult as they were in steep country and in a gap, although they had a lookout, visibility was tough in the timber. A well trained crew and good leadership helped them through the experience. A poor plan from the team to the crew added to the deployment. Better scouting by team members before giving an assignment is needed. Good SA by the crew makes a positive outcome.
Waldron Creek had poor leadership, inexperienced firefighters, poor plan, steep country that was unforgiving. Fortunately we have learned through the years, better planning, PPE, Fire Orders, etc. And we do not go out and recruit folks with no experience to fight fires today. Unclear to me why they were at that location of the burnover, so close to the top of the ridge. Timber company driving the tactics to save their timber added to a poor plan. It was fortuitous running into Ross at the boneyard to assist us (Old Men and Fire) in making a plan to establish a memorial for these men that lost their lives fighting this fire.
Kurt La Rue, former Hotshot Superintendent and Bureau of Land Management NIFC Fire Operations Specialist – Our walk through of the Waldron Creek & Canyon Creek fires reminded me of how hard it can be to stay focused on the day to day grind of fire operations. From our IHCs to day laborers the challenge is how do you get everyone to stay focused every shift. In the day to day grind most assignments just aren’t that complex and it’s natural to lose focus. From the top of the line suppression resources to the OPS/DIVS who are directing resources totally dependent on their leadership. How to keep your focus on what is the worst the fire can do today instead of what are the extraneous “needs” surrounding the incident. Recognizing that today is that day, the .5% is lining up to happen, is a lesson often “learned” but more often unremembered in the moment.
Bill Molumby, former Hotshot Superintendent, US Fish & Wildlife Service Zone Fire Management Officer, and National Type 1 Incident Commander –
This chapter of OM&F had a past and present connection. Two fires, two crews, two outcomes. The retelling of the Stanislaus and the Waldron Creek stories have a theme; being placed in an unwinnable situation by others’ decisions, accepting the deal & playing the hand rather than folding. Simplification and responsibility aside, there are parallels that transcend technology and training. Human factors seem to be the only controllable yet most perplexing. Perhaps it’s a desire to succeed, accomplish the mission and win. It reminds me we all come with different personalities & experiences that affect our decisions. Being an island in this line of work can lead to detrimental consequences…
One of the tenants of OM&F is to “honor those who were lost…”. The Forgotten Five of Waldron Creek is at the essence of that purpose. On reflection, the five could care less about honor. I suppose remembering them is more about my honor than theirs. Having Charlie Palmer participate was a thanks to his efforts and contribution. Unexpectedly, the meeting with Ross at the “boneyard” validated the trip. As he mentioned “this place has occasion for interesting happenings.” The poignancy of Charles M. Russel’s Trails Plowed Under is acknowledged. Things have changed tremendously since 1931 with much forgotten. Herbert Novotny, Frank Williamson, Hjalmer Gunnarson, Ted Bierchen and Charles Allen story tells me we must remember for our own good.
Bryan Scholz, former Hotshot Foreman and District Assistant Fire Management Officer - Serendipity is having good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries. There are four types. Mertonian serendipity refers to making an unexpected and valuable discovery by chance, within a research context. It involves not just encountering an unplanned finding, but also recognizing its potential significance and using it to advance knowledge or meet objectives. So it was when the Old Men went to the Choteau cemetery but didn't know where the firefighter's graves were and asked the guy mowing the lawn if he knew, and finding out that Ross not only knew but was all kinds of excited about who we were since he has been trying to get the town to memorialize those guys for years.
Ross pulls out his phone. "Hey Larry, this is Ross. I'm up here at the boneyard. I got these cats here that want to do something about these firefighters!"
And now the ball is rolling. It's a beautiful thing.
Don Will, former Hotshot Superintendent and Forest Deputy Fire Chief -
The Chouteau Boneyard happening, Charlie Palmer couldn’t remember where Gunnerson and Allen were buried, prompting a question to the groundskeeper who turned out to be Ross. How random was that? Ross’s passion for Gunnerson and Allen’s memories is beyond words. The energy just flowed through all of us. Soon tentative plans were being made, cards exchanged, and tasks agreed to. I wonder what would have happened if Ross was on a day off that day. My bet is we would have had the same discussion as to the design and setting a memorial. No doubt. But Ross brought in the heart of the community of Chouteau (except the mayor) and resources they have available to help. No hesitation, no-nonsense. Passion and Respect does in fact play the part. The other random piece is having Charlie there to witness this exchange. He must have felt a sense of closure knowing what he started so many years ago is finally being finished. What a day!
Jerry Williams, former U.S. Forest Service National Fire Director – Jerry joined the group as a source of local knowledge for the Canyon Creek Fire.
Charles Palmer, former Smokejumper and current Professor at the University of Montana – Charlie joined the group as a source of local knowledge for the Waldron Creek Fire.