Librarian
IFSI Library Information
Library Hours:
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Monday - Friday
Special operating hours may be held during events.
IFSI Library Staff:
Lian Ruan, Head Librarian: lruan@illinois.edu
Diane Richardson, Reference & User Training Librarian: dlrichar@illinois.edu
David Ehrenhart, Archivist and Metadata Librarian: ehrenha1@illinois.edu
Introduction
Courtesy of University of Idaho Library. Special Collections & Archives (8-X87), found on 1910fire.com
The fire season of 1910 was particularly active due to a combination of lightning, drought conditions, and human-set fires. On August 20th, strong winds caused multiple fires to blow-up, or suddenly increase in intensity and rate of spread, and combine. Over 3 million acres of the Northern Rockies in Montana and Idaho burned over the next few days, leading to 85 deaths. Forest Ranger Ed Pulaski became famous for managing to save most of his crew by directing them to take shelter in a nearby mine. The majority of burned land was forest, but many towns also were devastated, including Wallace, Idaho (Pictured above). This fire brought increased support and funding to the US Forest Service and demonstrated the importance of fighting and controlling wildland fires before they reached human inhabited areas. In 1935, influential members of the Forest Service who had served in the 1910 fires successfully established the “10AM Policy,” which stated that all fires should be suppressed by 10AM the day after they were reported.
Resources
Year of the Fires by Call Number: SD421.32.M9 P96 2008ISBN: 9780878425440Publication Date: 2008-03-30In the summer of 1910, wildfires in the Northern Rockies scorched millions of acres, darkened skies in New England, and deposited soot on the ice in Greenland. The flames ravaged pristine wilderness along with farms, towns, and mining camps, culminating in the deaths of 78 firefighters in the Big Blowup along the Montana-Idaho border. Year of the Fires is the riveting story of that catastrophic year and its pivotal role in establishing how we deal with forest fire in this country.
The Big Burn by Call Number: E757 .E33 2009ISBN: 9780618968411Publication Date: 2009-10-19"On the afternoon of August 20, 1910, a battering ram of wind moved through the drought-stricken national forests of Washington, Idaho, Montana, whipping the hundreds of small blazes burning across the forest floor into a roaring inferno that jumped from treetop to ridge as it raged, destroying towns and timber in an eyeblink... " This book also explores Teddy Roosevelt's efforts to promote conservation of wildland and how the Big Blowup shaped that work and the Forest Service's role in it.
Articles marked IN-PERSON are available at the IFSI Library's physical location, and clicking on the link will take you to the catalog record. Those marked ONLINE can be directly accessed by clicking on the link.
- ONLINE - Big Ed Pulaski and the Big BlowupThe article on pg. 19 of v.63, issue 1 of Fire Management Today focuses on Pulaski's experience during the firestorm.
- National Wildfire Coordinating Group - The Great Fires of 1910 (The Big Blowup) – August 20thThis article from their "This Day in History" series focuses on using what is known about the fire as discussion prompts for firefighter training and education.
- National Wildfire Coordinating Group - Staff Ride to the 1910 Idaho FireAs part of their Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program, the NWCG provides resources for 'Staff Rides,' or explorations of the sites of historic wildfires. These include useful background reading, and summaries meant to be used as talking points as the team members move throughout the site.
- C-SPAN - The Fires of 1910Using archival film, this video was put together by C-SPAN and the National Interagency Fire Center.
- 1910 Fire Commemoration Information SiteThe Forest Service site contains information on the fire of 1910 and the commemoration that occurred in 2010.
- The Great 1910 Fire of Idaho, Montana, and WashingtonAvery, Idaho made an effort for the 2010 anniversary to record fatalities, gravesites, historical newspaper articles and ephemera, and other pieces of history.
- Forest History Society - US Forest Service Fire SuppressionHere is a more detailed look at how the Big Blowup affected firefighting policy and encouraged a move towards total suppression policy.