Well that video will certainly put a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye. I’ve seen several references that say one has to go back to the Depression era to find such a large loss of life in a forest fire. While that is true something very similar happened at a place called Mann Gulch. You probably recall Norman MacLean as the author of “A River Runs Through It” as well as the movie. But he became obsessed with a book that was not finished by the publisher until after his death. The book is call “Young Men and fire” and what a exceptional book it is. The Mann Gulch fire of 1949 was a wildfire in the Helena National Forest, Montana, United States, which claimed the lives of 13 firefighters including 12 smokejumpers who parachuted into the area to fight the fire, but were unable to control it. There’s another similarity also. The foreman at Mann Gulch survived by lighting a fire in the grass then lying down within it. The others refused to do so and tried to outrun it to their demise. Several months following the fire, fire scientist (and father of modern day forest fire fighting) Harry Gisborne, from the U.S. Forest Service Research Center at Priest River, came to examine the damage. His early evaluation of data conflicted with what had actually happened. Having a history of heart problems he was counseled to not attempt the visit but this was too important to him. He did conduct an on-ground survey of the fire site and before the day was out stated that he had been completely wrong about what he had assumed to have happened. He suffered a heart attack and died at the site while finishing the day’s research. If you’ve never read the book and have an interest in the challenges involving forest fires, you’ll really enjoy this one.
It WAS finished by the publisher after his death...proofreading is your friend.