Hauser Creek Fire
The 1943 Hauser Creek Fire is one of the most obscure major wildland fire tragedies. This incident happened during World War II, the fatalities and injuries were primarily Marine and Army personnel. As a result much of the aftermath was handled by the military and was not considered significant relative to the losses that were occurring in the Pacific and in Europe.
This 2nd Annual Old Men and Fire gathering was a bit larger. Tom Boatner, Dan Buckley, Jim Cook, and Kurt La Rue convened in San Diego on November 6, 2023 and did an impromptu drive-by visit to the 1959 Decker Fire site the next day enroute to the designated meeting place at Ken Kremensky’s house in Alpine, California. Ken graciously offered to host the four out-of-towners for the event. That night the group grew as the local San Diego contingent of Dennis Baldridge, Dena Chavez, Doug Elliott, Bill Molumby, and Ken’s brother Burke joined for an evening hamburger BBQ. The next morning an early departure put the group at the Camp Lockett Cavalry Museum in Campo for a presentation on the 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers. The group was joined by Dave Volgarino and Tim Kraling. From the museum the group convoyed away in several rigs; eventually going down a gravel road and through a restricted access gate until the old road, built by CCC crews in the 1930s, turned impassable. Then it was a two mile hike into the site where Dave Volgarino and Bill Molumby provided the historical orientation for the day. The group held a closeout dinner at the Mike Hess Brewing Company. The following day the out-of-towners found their way home and the local contingent went back to their other old men activities.
Individual Takeaways:
Dennis Baldridge, former Hotshot Superintendent and US Forest Service Southern California Fire Operations Coordinator – Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit..as you can tell, I am still formulating my thoughts.
Tom Boatner, former Smokejumper Base Manager and Bureau of Land Management Chief of Fire Operations – Hunt was relatively inexperienced overall and even less experienced in fireline leadership. He is leading 100 Marines with essentially no experience. Because of his lack of experience, Hunt makes poor decisions on line location. His limited experience does not allow him to accurately recognize what the current situation is relative to fuels, topography, safety zones and fire behavior, and he does not anticipate the range of outcomes that may develop over the next few hours. The overall lack of experience that day at that gully leads to poor decision making with fatal consequences.
Dan Buckley, former Hotshot Superintendent, National Park Service Fire Director, and current Yosemite Fire Management Officer – This staff ride was so interesting because the fire is so little known by most fire personnel and the unusual situation of having 90 people working in or near a narrow gorge on the east flank of the fire. The fact that of the 90 people working in one location, and only 10 escaped without injuries, and 9 perished, was particularly striking. The other intriguing fact was that most of the fatalities and burn injuries in that narrow gorge were from radiant heat and superheated gasses instead of direct flame contact. Given the short amount of time the personnel (US Marines and USFS) were on scene before the incident occurred makes me think there was an element of "Bias for action" on the part of all, again being lured into a tight spot going indirect while thinking the fire behavior was fairly benign... a "routine fire." Until it wasn't.
Dena Chavez, former San Diego Fire Department Engine Captain and current honorary Old Man – The pre-work was comprehensive and really helped to prepare me to understand what we were looking at when we were out on the hike. Going to the museum was especially important in giving some historical context to the military forces here in San Diego and what their responsibilities were and, of course, honoring the Buffalo Soldiers. Walking the path the soldiers and firefighters took back in 1943, discussing what actions were taken, the leadership challenges, what we have learned since and how we discuss questioning orders given, the experience that all of the Old Men and Fire give to the tactical decision making process, all added to an incredible learning experience. Being in the area where the firefighters lost their lives felt like we were honoring them by discussing the "what if's" and how we may have learned from the decision made there, and will continue to learn from the past. Overall, I am now going to share this incident with others who live here in San Diego. By continuing to look at past incidents we can help avoid or prepare for the human elements that increase the challenges we encounter in fire; lack of clear communications, inexperienced firefighters being led with little or no direction, span of control issues, understanding weather and fire behavior, and giving our firefighters the ability to question tactics when appropriate.
Jim Cook, former Hotshot Superintendent and US Forest Service Training Projects Coordinator – The opportunity to read the witness interviews, which were done on site, was quite revealing. Rather than decipher a report writer’s filtered narrative, it was like hearing them tell their stories; some of which were obviously conflictive or intentionally vague. The one exchange that caught my attention was with Forest Guard Jack Herndon. The interviewer used the term “safety zone” several times during his questioning and there was a discussion about the use of a firing operation as a “last resort for safety for retreat.” My takeaway is that these terms and concepts were in our repertoire before Wag Dodge’s use of an escape fire at Mann Gulch in 1949 and the advent of the “10 Standard Firefighting Orders" in 1958.
Doug Elliott, former El Cajon Fire Department Engine Captain – It took a while for my take away to make it to paper. I have been fortunate to have attended numerous Staff Rides throughout my career. Each one of the Staff Rides have stirred up different emotions and questions. The Hauser Creek Fire Staff Ride was no different. My thoughts were not tactical in nature but more of an observation of the importance of keeping the storytelling alive because if you don’t, events like the Hauser Creek Fire could be lost.
Ken Kremensky, former Lakeside Fire Department Chief and current Barona Fire Department Chief - Enjoyed the history of the Buffalo Soldiers and was surprised that back in that day, 3000 soldiers were stationed in Campo and were used to fight the Hauser Creek Fire. Deep narrow canyon with a south slope contributing to extreme burning conditions; winds funneling through the canyon can greatly influence burning conditions. Situational awareness is so important to keep in mind on these fires.
Kurt La Rue, former Hotshot Superintendent and Bureau of Land Management NIFC Fire Operations Specialist – The opportunity to walk through one of the sites where, as was the standard of the day, a large number of untrained individuals were thrown onto the fire ground with the expectation of mass being able to overcome the fire environment reinforced, for me, the need for trained leadership and labor whenever a fire is engaged. After having worked on the 100 Fires Project over the past year, the lessons from here at Hauser, as well as the Griffith Park, and Cart Creek fires just to name a couple, are poorly remembered, and should be used to show firefighters today why we have our current standards. It is hard to look at the canyon were the young Marines died in and not think well trained and experienced leadership would have provided a different outcome that day.
Related to this takeaway is a question. The United States was in the middle of World War II when this happened, these Marines were training to be in a very active war zone in the very near future; not everyone expected to make it home from the war. Did this institutional sense of “acceptable losses” coupled with the sense of urgency which can surround fires lead to the level of risk taking that is evident in their actions that day? Do our people today let the increasing “urgency” in the urban fire environment take too large a role in their decision making and risk analysis? A discussion at the Hauser Creek site would provide an excellent opportunity to review this question and drive home what the priorities for wildland fire personnel should be.
Bill Molumby, former Hotshot Superintendent, US Fish & Wildlife Service Zone Fire Management Officer, and National Type 1 Incident Commander –
I am drawn to the actions of Davis. He seems to be the only one to have had a real grasp on the situation. His situational awareness, communication skill, and leadership seems to go unnoticed. A argument can be made that his independent assessment and order to evacuate the line saved up to 10 marines from injury. Our use of line safety officers today would be the closes thing we have to a “Davis”. Having the experience and confidence to inject into a situation in a timely manner before it turns dangerous is what line safety is about.
Dave Volgarino, former Marine, Hotshot Captain, and Wilderness Ranger – Dave joined the group as our history docent. With his background as a Marine and a Firefighter, he has researched this fire in depth for over 20 years.
Tim Kraling, current Cleveland National Forest Engine Captain – Tim joined the group as an observer from the Cleveland National Forest with the intent to develop a current connection with the local fire organizations to sustain the telling of this history.