It was sad to hear about the fireman who lost there lives in the AZ forest fire. Today is the 60th anniversary of the Rattlesnake fire that killed 15 firefighters. My uncle Robert Mieden was one of the missionaries who died in this fire. RATTLESNAKE FIRE MEMORIAL DEDICATED JULY 12 -- ELK CREEK, CA: On July 9, 1953, a brushfire was reported in Grindstone Canyon northwest of Elk Creek on the Mendocino National Forest. The Forest Service requested the volunteer fire crew at the New Tribes Mission, about 25 miles south of the fire. The crew responded, and the arson-caused fire was mostly contained that evening. But the missionary crew was sent down into the canyon in the evening to work a spot fire. About the time they sat down for their supper in the steep brushy canyon, the wind shifted with what was to become known as a killer weather phenomenon. The fire jumped lines and roared down the canyon after them. A firefighter higher up on the slope tried to warn them to get out. Nine of them clawed their way upslope and escaped the path of the fire. But the 15 firefighters who tried to run down the canyon to a road below were burned over. Fourteen firefighters from the New Tribes Mission and one Forest Service employee from the Mendocino National Forest died on the fire. fatality site in Grindstone Canyon, and includes exhibits describing the tragic fire.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 15:08:59 +0000
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