VOL. 47, ISSUE 17
FREE
AUGUST 18, 2023
CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
The 1933 Tillamook Burn, The Great Fire of 1910 and the History of Smokey Bear By BOB ATIYEH
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he 1933 Tillamook Burn 90 years ago, a forest fire was burning northeast of Tillamook in the north Oregon Coast Range. The summer of 1933 had been hot and dry, with no significant rain for over two months, and the area’s forests were “tinder dry”. The generally accepted story is that the fire was started by a small logging operation working on the steep slopes above the North Fork of Gales Creek, about 15 miles northwest of Forest Grove. As the Gales Creek Logging Company pulled one final large log through the woods before shutting down for the day, a spark ignited a small fire that quickly spread into the dry logging debris. It was the early afternoon of August 14th, 1933. Fire lookouts stationed on nearby peaks quickly reported the smoke. Despite heroic attempts by the logging crew to extinguish it, the fire rapidly grew to sixty acres over the next few hours, with embers igniting spot fires several miles from the main blaze. Hundreds, and eventually thousands of people poured into the area in an attempt to control the fire. They were hindered by the remote and rugged location as well as the lack of road access. The Wilson River Highway (Highway 6) and the Sunset Highway (Highway 26) did not exist, and the location of the fire was at the end of a railroad spur line. In 1933, most of the north Oregon Coast Range was privately owned and road-
less; consisting of hundreds of thousands of acres of predominately old-growth forest, with some trees more than 10 feet in diameter. The next day, August 15th, the humidity dropped as the temperature in Portland soared to a record high of 102* (Forest Grove hit 105*) with the wind rapidly pushing the fire deeper into the Coast Range towards the southwest. On August 16th, the fire’s advance slowed with lighter winds, cooler temperatures and higher humidity; these improved conditions lasted for several days, and it looked like the fire might be contained, but on August 21st, humidity dropped and the wind began to blow from the east as the fire continued to spread to the southwest. Ten days after igniting, the fire had burned a total of around 40,000 acres, but that was about to change. On the evening of August 24th, the east wind increased and the humidity fell, creating the perfect conditions for the rapid spread of fire. Overnight and into the next day of August 25th, the fire exploded, destroying 200,000 acres of forest in less than 30 hours. A massive plume of smoke climbed 40,000 feet into the air and the sky darkened in Tillamook and other coastal communities as the huge ominous plume of smoke blotted out the sun. Debris from the fire was reported to have fallen on ships 500 miles at sea and huge amounts of ash and embers rained down on coastal communities west of the fire. The next day, August 26th, brought some
A “Smokey Bear” Poster by Muhammad Holidin + Amplifier.org for USDA Forest Service, National Association of State Foresters, Ad Council POSTER COURTESY OF WWW.SMOKEYBEAR.COM
relief with westerly winds and much higher humidity as a thick wet blanket of fog moved in off the ocean, with August 28th bringing some rain that continued to slow the spread of the fire. By the time the fire, later known as the Tillamook Burn, was extinguished by heavy rain on September 5th, over 10 billion board feet of timber had been destroyed, more than twice the volume of timber destroyed by the eruption of Mt. St. Helens on May 18th,
1980. Over the next eighteen years, three more fires burned in the same area of the northern Coast Range; occurring every six years in 1939, 1945 and 1951. The 1939 fire burned mostly within the southern perimeter of the original 1933 burn, and the fire of 1945 predominately burned in the northern part of the 1933 burn area, while also torching 65,000 acres of unburned forests to the north. The much smaller 1951 fire
burned within the previously burned area. All of these fires were started by logging operations, and these four fires collectively came to be known by several generations of Oregonians as the “Tillamook Burn”. Residents of communities along the north Oregon coast understandably feel somewhat complacent about the danger posed by wildfire, being surrounded by a temperate rainforest drenched with over seven feet of annual rain. But the history of forest fires in the Coast Range tell a much different story. In 1845, a fire in Marion County burned all the way across the Coast Range. During a five-year period in the mid-nineteenth century, more than 1.5 million acres were burned by the 1848 Nestucca fire (295,000 acres) the 1849 Siletz fire (800,000 acres) and the 1853 Yaquina fire (484,000 acres) In 1868 the Coos Bay fire destroyed 295,000 acres east of Coos Bay, and in 1878 a fire started by hunters burned southwest from Clatsop County into Tillamook County. A 1902 fire burned part of the Wilson River watershed, the Cedar Butte fire of 1918 burned 40,000 acres north of the Wilson River, and a 1931 fire destroyed 25,000 acres of forest in Tillamook and Washington counties. On September 26th, 1936, three years after the Tillamook Burn, a fire burning several miles east of Bandon raced toward the town after a sudden shift in the wind. The fire destroyed most of the town of 1,800, killing ten, fueled by the extremely flammable
non-native ornamental gorse, which had first been planted by one of the town’s Irish founders in 1873. Besides destroying the town, the Bandon fire burned 145,000 acres. Almost all of these fires along the coast and in the Coast Range were caused by humans. Under the right weather conditions, our temperate rainforest can become extremely dry, and most of Oregon’s coastal communities are located within the “wildland-urban interface” where wildfires can easily spread to flammable urban structures. In September of 2020, the 2,500 acre Echo Mountain Fire destroyed almost 300 homes in the town of Otis east of Lincoln City. There are disturbing similarities in the geography of several north coast towns and the Hawaiian town of Lahaina; wedged between mountains and ocean with limited escape routes. One of the key differences is that the tragedy that unfolded in that historic town on west Maui was greatly exacerbated by the presence of highly flammable non-native grasses. The lesson to be learned from Lahaina is that in a rapidly warming and changing climate, coastal citizens need to take fire prevention seriously and be prepared to quickly evacuate should a wildfire threaten their town. The Great Fire of 1910 As bad as it was, the 240,000 acre Tillamook Burn of 1933 is dwarfed by the “Great Fire of 1910”. Also known as “The Big Burn”, SEE TILLAMOOK BURN PAGE A8
Emergency Responders Discuss Recent Accidents on Highway 26 By DEB ATIYEH
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n Tuesday July 25th, a non-injury accident on Highway 26 at milepost 21.5 blocked the highway in both directions after an eastbound vehicle towing a trailer collided with a westbound truck, with both vehicles rolling onto their sides. The following day on Wednesday July 26th, a head-on motor vehicle accident involving multiple vehicles on Highway 26, at milepost 24 east of the Nehalem River, closed both lanes of traffic for several hours. Two vehicles collided head-on after one of them crossed the center line. With a total of seven injured patients, some critical, the incident overwhelmed the available resources of the initial emergency responders; with the incident being declared a Level 1 Mass Casualty Incident as calls for assistance went out to neighboring fire departments. Two Life Flight helicopters and three ambulances assisted in transporting patients to hospitals in Seaside and Portland. Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) reported that this accident happened in an ODOT work zone where ODOT was completing a paving project. That stretch of Highway 26 has a “sink” due to an unstable slope that is repaired annually. According to a citizen
involved in this motor vehicle accident, “this wreck happened right behind me. The traffic from the roadwork was backed up to a blind corner. I came around the corner and had to slam on my brakes; barely stopping before hitting the vehicle in front of me. I was watching my mirror knowing it was a dangerous situation. I saw an RV coming in “hot”, They slammed on their brakes and lost control. I was bracing for impact. The RV started to tip and I believe the driver over-corrected and shot into oncoming traffic and hit the Ford head on. I estimate the RV was traveling about 50+ even while trying to stop and the Ford was traveling between 30-40 mph. It was a very violent collision. Multiple civilians, including myself, jumped out, and as we approached the RV we could see flames coming from the passenger side dash. We got the side door open and got everyone out, then ran over to the truck and got the woman out of the Ford. The driver of the Ford was an elderly man trapped in the vehicle. Focus shifted to controlling the fire. Bystanders produced fire extinguishers and extinguished the fire. We then attempted to use a Sawzall to extract the driver of the Ford, but it was very ineffective at cutting the seat brackets. We tried everything we could until the local fire department showed up with
the Jaws. At which point I returned to my vehicle and let them do their job. It was a very unfortunate situation and I personally don’t believe that either driver was at fault. The roadwork backing traffic up to the blind corner was 100% the cause of this wreck. There was not enough signage and it was not far enough back. One sign said road work ahead and it was just before the corner. I personally thought it was much further down. I saw the sign but didn’t expect traffic to be at a dead stop immediately after.” A fatal single-vehicle accident occurred Sunday, July 30th on Highway 26 at milepost 11, as the driver of a westbound vehicle failed to negotiate a curve and collided with a tree. The driver was declared dead at the scene. These three accidents on Highway 26 occurred within five days of each other. According to Matt Verley, Chief of the Hamlet Rural Fire Protection District, located on Highway 26 eight miles east of the junction with Highway 101, motor vehicle accidents have increased 20-30% over the past few years due to a significant increase in traffic. Verley said his fire district personnel are seeing more accidents involving impaired drivers along with more drivers exceeding the speed limit. While the primary responsibility of the Oregon State
Police (OSP) in Warrenton is patrolling the highways of Clatsop County, their office is currently at 50% of normal staffing. Oregon State Police officers cover all major Clatsop County highways, along with smaller secondary highways, including Highways 26, 101, 30, 53, 202 and 103. Highway patrols are increased during busy weekends, with OSP officers issuing over 200 citations along Highway 26 during June and July. The OSP are having problems filling vacant positions, and are currently seeking qualified candidates. One result of not being fully staffed is that OSP officers are sometimes unable to respond if they are committed to another call. Matt Phillips of the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) said that his agency is currently staffed with twenty-six officers, including two detectives, four sergeants and nineteen deputies, with one position unfilled. Current CCSO positions include a marine patrol officer and a forest patrol officer. Tasked with multiple law enforcement responsibilities, and providing coverage to all of the unincorporated areas of the county, traffic enforcement is not the primary responsibility of Clatsop County deputies, but they do assist with serious motor vehicle accidents. All law enforcement agencies report that they are
spending more of their time on mental health-related calls, as well as dealing with the consequences of easier access to drugs resulting from voter approval of Ballot Measure 110 in November 2020. Along with the less than desirable levels of law enforcement, excessive speed, and impaired and distracted driving, some other problems affecting Highway 26 are blind corners, narrow lanes of travel with minimal shoulder space, and uneven and rough sections of highway; with some impatient drivers recklessly passing other vehicles and veering into the oncoming lane of traffic. The July 26th Mass Casualty Incident on Highway 26 required three ambulances and two Life Flight helicopters to transport seven patients. If someone in Astoria had suffered a heart attack, or a visitor had fallen off the rocks at Hug Point and needed to be rescued and transported to a hospital, it would have been a major problem as the three available ambulances in Clatsop County were all committed to that one incident. According to Tom Strecker, general manager of Medix Ambulance in Clatsop County, there are a minimum of two ambulances in service in Clatsop County, up to a maximum of four, with adequate staffing an ongoing problem for Medix. A medical transfer to a Portland area
hospital, when a helicopter is unavailable or unable to fly due to inclement weather, can tie up an ambulance for several hours. Clatsop County has a permanent population of around 42,000, but that doesn’t include the large number of people who visit the area. Having to travel long distances can complicate a rescue, and a Mass Casualty Incident can quickly overwhelm the available medical resources in the county. When discussing motor vehicle accidents, all emergency responders emphasized the “Fatal 5”: excessive speed, occupant safety (wearing your seat belt), staying in your lane of travel, impaired driving and distracted driving. Any of these “Fatal 5” factors can be the difference between a very serious accident or arriving safely at your destination. Something for coastal residents and visitors to consider is that Clatsop County is predominately rural with limited resources and potentially prolonged response times for motor vehicle accidents and medical emergencies. While driving, slow down and drive defensively, being mindful of the fact that it could be a long time before emergency responders are able to to reach you.