Mann Gulch Fire - Aftermath

Aftermath

450 men fought for five more days to get the fire, which had spread to 18 km2 (4500 acres), under control.

Wagner Dodge survived unharmed and died five years later of Hodgkin's disease.

Thirteen crosses were erected to mark the locations where the thirteen firefighters who died fighting the Mann Gulch Fire fell. However, one of the smokejumpers who died in the Mann Gulch Fire was David Navon, who was Jewish. In 2011 the cross marking the location where Navon died was replaced with a marker bearing a Star of David

Several months following the fire, fire scientist Harry Gisborne, from the US Forest Service Research Center at Priest River, came to examine the damage. Having a history of heart problems, he nevertheless conducted an on-ground survey of the fire site. He suffered a heart attack and died while finishing the day’s research.

Gisborne had forwarded theories as to the cause of the blowup prior to his arrival on site. Once there, he discovered several conditions, which caused him to change his concepts of fire activity particularly those pertaining to fire "blow-ups". He noted this to his companion just before his death on 9 November 1949.

There was some controversy about the fire, with a few parents of the men trying to sue the government. One charge was that the 'escape fire' had actually burned the men.

Lessons learned from the Mann Gulch fire had a great impact on firefighter training. However, some of the lessons were forgotten and the tragedy would be repeated in the South Canyon Fire of 1994, in which 14 firefighters died.