Mann Gulch Fire Case Study

Historians know where the fire started but not how it started. The fire was started in the barn of the O'Leary family, starting with their barn door. It is known that the fire began there because the fire spotter saw flames coming from that direction. Murphy shows this in the text; "Schaffer signaled down the speaking tube and had his assistant strike Box 342. This sent engines rumbling through the streets — to a location almost a mile away from the O’Learys’ barn." (Jim Murphy, The Great Fire). That being said the O'leary family didn't know how it started either. Luckily, the new fire alarm system did help to alarm the rest of the city.

Before the fire broke out on Sunday night, October 8, 1871 there had been a large drought causing everything to be dry and extremely flammable. Many fires had been breaking out in Chicago. Records show that in 1870 the fire

The preconditions of the area where the fire occurred were very dry land with “whipping seasonal gusts known as the Santa Ana winds and the Diablo winds” (mnn.com). The fire was started by a hunter who was lost in the woods. He believed he could be found easily if he started a small signal fire however, because of the preconditions, this small fire would spread and become the “largest single fire in California’s recorded history” (mnn.com)

Mankind has been utilizing fire for millennia; it has been used to make food safe, to provide warmth, to illuminate the dark and unknown, and to protect from savage beasts. It is also practical for torturing, killing, intimidating, and destroying. It only takes one glance for someone to see how fire -- as it dances, spearing the sky for but a moment before it is gone, only to be replaced by another flame -- is far too chaotic to be controlled. In the world of Fahrenheit 451, it seems, superficially, that man has conquered fire at last; the home, man’s refuge from everything undesirable in the world, is fireproof. Why, then, are things still burning in this gilded utopia? In this futuristic society where there is no such thing as an uncontrolled fire, fire has been reduced to a mere tool to be wielded by mankind. As such, fire, in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, is a reflection of the true nature of each character in the novel. In the hands of the society and especially the fireman, fire is a tool wielded for fractious and destructive intent. For Clarisse, who is compared to a candle, fire is friendly and inspiring of thought. And for Montag and the other literates hiding outside of the city, fire is a warm gathering place that fosters kinship and the proper ideals to feed a revolution.

The history of fires goes back to the 17th century. They were called, “Fire buckets”. They came into existence because there was no fireman. Fire buckets were people organizing themselves like a human chain with buckets passing around. There was at least two to three buckets full of

On July 10, 2001 four U.S Forest Service Firefighters died while battling the thirty mile fire. Six others injured including two hikers. The thirty mile fire was the second deadliest fire in Washington state history.

It was finally under control on the morning of Tuesday, October 10, 1871 (“Chicago Fire of”). All people could see was “smoldering ruins for miles” (Warburton 24-47). Police set up morgues in places where buildings had been burned down to try to determine who had died (Warburton 24-47). Only 120 bodies were ever found, but more than 300 people were suspected to be lifeless (Warburton 24-47). Some bodies were too burned to even be identified (Warburton 24-47). Police also thought that people had drowned, trying to jump into Lake Michigan (Warburton 24-47).

There is some dispute to the cause of the fire, but most believe it was set by three inmates who intended to cause a distraction during dinner time, so as to make an escape in the commotion. Instead, they mistimed the ignition device which didn’t ignite until they were all locked up for the night (Latta). This idea was later cemented as the cause when two of the three men hung themselves from grief. There are still some, however, that believe the fire was a tragic accident and the prison officials used the three inmates as an excuse to avoid blame

The fire took place on March 25th, 1911. The source of the fire ignited in one of the trash bins on the eighth floor. The manager who was working that day tried to extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher but was

‘’The Fire that swept through the heart of Chicago began on Sunday night, October 8, 1871. First, The Great Fire would burn for the rest of sunday, all of monday, and into the early hours of Tuesday with little real opposition.’’ They knew the city was already to burn because ⅔ of 59,500 buildings were made out of wood. Barnes contained hay and coal. Tar and wooden shingle. Factories contained flammable materials. The dry conditions, and the grass was really dry. Second, Perhaps they think a cow at Mrs.O'Leary's a cow kicked a lantern and they were the cause of the fire and the destruction of Chicago. People trapped in burning buildings often panicked and jumped to their deaths. It’s

     According to New York Fire Marshal William L. Beers the fire was started in this fashion, “The result of my investigation and the taking of testimony for ten days after the fire was that I was of the opinion that the fire occurred on the eighth floor on the Greene street side, under a cutting table, which table was enclosed and that contained the waste material as cut from this lawn that was used to make up the waists. They were in the habit of cutting about 160 to 180 thicknesses of lawn at one time; that formed quite a lot of waste, which was placed under the cutting tables, as it had a commercial value of about seven cents a pound”. “Well, we formed

For years if not decades, firefighters have responded to a reported structure fire that turned out to be a fully involved single room. This fire scenario requires a core set of fire tactics and skills to control and extinguished the fire, but is it this simple? Perhaps twenty years it may have been, but new dangers are lurking in every scenario and may have detrimental outcomes for unsuspecting and unaware firefighters and victims. The National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) agency along with the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) have been conducting research to understand fire behavior and fire dynamics. This research is providing firefighters with new information about how and why

On June 30, 2013, 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an Interagency Hotshot Crew (IHC) of 20 elite firefighters, lost their lives battling the Yarnell Hill Fire near Yarnell, Arizona. An initial investigation conducted by the Arizona State Forestry Division (ASFD) found some communication problems but overall declared the Yarnell Hill Fire a no-fault tragedy, focusing largely on the actions of the Granite Mountain Hotshots who, according to the investigation, made an unknown and last-minute decision to move from a safety zone to an area closer to the wildfire (leading to their deaths).

Although the young men died like squirrels in Mann Gulch, the Mann Gulch fire should not end there, smoke drifting away and leaving terror without consolation of explanation, and controversy without lasting settlement. Probably most catastrophes end this way without an ending, the dead not even knowing how they died but "still alertly erect in fear and wonder," those who loved them forever questioning "this unnecessary death," and the rest of us tiring of this inconsolable catastrophe and turning to the next one.

“A district firefighter was arrested Thursday and charged with setting his vehicle on fire in Prince George’s County in an attempt to defraud his insurance company…[he] was charged with one count of arson and one count of committing a malicious burn for fraud…charging documents state that investigators determined that gasoline had been poured on the seats and ignited with a match” (washingtonpost.com)