Smokejumping I History of Smokejumping

United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Northern Region HISTORY OF SMOKEJUMPING I HISTORY OF SMOKEJUMPING Prepared by: Aviation & Fire Management Northern Region Missoula, Montana 59807 August1, 1980 R1-80- 22 5740 production; and cargo dropping, first employed on actual fires in Background History 1929, had become a practical means of supplying firefighters in the backcountry 5 or 6 years later. In order to present a complete record of smokejumping, it is necessary to touch The use of airplanes and parachutes briefly on a few pertinent facts for transporting firefighters was con- relating to earlier uses of aircraft by sidered by a few progressive-minded the Forest Service in its fire control foresters in the early days of the fire activities. patrol, but for a long time the idea was discarded as being too dangerous Shortly after the close of the first and wholly impractical. In 1934, T. V. World War, Chief Forester Henry S. Pearson of the Interriountain Region of Graves wrote the Chief of the Army Air the Forest Service (Region 4) with Corps, suggesting cooperation with the headquarters at Ogden, Utah, proposed Forest Service for fire detection in and initiated the first experiment in certain western States. This was the use of parachutes for transpor- followed by the organization of a fire tation of firefighters. A few patrol, which was initiated in demonstrations were made by a pro- California and later extended to fessional (J. B. Bruce), but the idea include Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and was abandoned as being too risky. Montana. A prominent figure in the Characteristic of the attitude of the early days of the' patrol was Colonel H. times, almost everyone considered it a H. (Hap) Arnold, at that time in harebrained scheme - parachutists being charge of the Western Department, and regarded (and with some justification) later to become World War II Commander as crackpots, publicity-loving of the U.S. Air Force. daredevils, or just plain crazy. Hence, the parachute as a practical Aerial fire control in Region 1 means of conveyance from plane to (Montana, Idaho, and eastern ground had very little chance of early Washington) dates from the early summer recognition. of 1925 when Forest Inspector Howard R. Flint, together with Lieutenants Nick Mamer and R. T. Freng of the Air Corps Yet, to anyone who might have looked Reserve, organized the Fire Patrol at closely into the matter, an array of Spokane. Lieutenant Freng remained convincing evidence of a steady growth only the one season, but during the in overcoming the hazards of parachute succeeding decade, the names of jumping would have been brought to Flint and Namer became inseparably light. The early observations of connected with the pioneering of Leonardo da Vinci and the many aerial activities in the Northern practical, if sometimes fatal, experi- Rocky Mountain Region.* During that ments dating from Revolutionary to period (1925-1935), aerial pho- pre-World War I times had, in a general tography expanded from a small way, settled the matter of function and experimental project to large-scale design. As early as 1916, Herbert L. Adams of Somerville, Massachusetts, procured patents on a parachute that * Flint became fatally ill while he claimed could be steered by manip- accompanying a National Geographic ulation of the shroudlines, and a few expedition down the Salmon River in years later John William Cawdery, an Idaho. He died October 14, 1935, at Englishman, invested one that could be Missoula, Montana, where he had been controlled by means of guidelines flown by the late pilot, Dick Johnson. attached to lateral flaps. Ivar Malmer Nick Mamer was killed March 14, 1938, of Stockholm, Sweden, Richard H. Hart while piloting a Northwest airliner of New Orleans, and Leslie Irvin, which crashed in the Bridger Mountains founder of the "Caterpillar Club," near Bozeman, Montana. added their bit to the steadily 1 increasing knowi1ge of behavior and decision was made to abandon the controllability, so that even before bombing tests, and on Godwin's the date of the first Forest Service recommendation, the unexpended balance sponsored demonstrations, it could be of experimental funds was authorized stated that parachutes were available for carrying on a parachute jumping that were reasonably safe from nialfunc- experiment. A contract was prepared tion and steerable to a limited degree. providing for parachutes, protective clothing, and the services of pro- In December 1935, the Aerial Fire fessional riggers and jumpers, the Control Experimental Project was set up Eagle Parachute Company of Lancaster, in the Washington Office of the Forest Pennsylvania, being the successful Service, the immediate plan being to bidder. The experiment was conducted continue experiments in the use of at Winthrop, Washington, on the Chelan water and chemical bombs which Flint National Forest during the period had initiated in Region 1 a few years October 5 to November 15, with Beach before his death. Until 1938, all Gill of the Eagle Company serving as Forest Service flying in the western consultant and collaborator - under Regions had been done by Army planes appointment of the Secretary of through cooperative arrangements or by Agriculture. A small group of pro- private contract fliers, but during fessional jumpers, with Frank M. Derry that year, a commercial-type, high-wing in charge, conducted a number of dummy 5-place Stinson was purchased by the tests and approximately 60 live jumps Forest Service and the bombing experi- were made, largely by employees of the ments were continued in the California contractor. Toward the end of the Region (Region 5). experiment, several Forest Service employees were allowed to jump into During the period 1936 to 1939, a great both open-field and timbered areas. deal was learned about cargo dropping There were no injuries of consequence. and several of the western Regions were engaged in making tests or employing this method of aerial supply with dif- ferent types of equipment and under widely varying conditions. But it began to be more and more apparent that suppressing fires by the use of water or chemicals from the air was imprac- ticable with the planes and equipment that were available at the time. 1939 The Birth of Smokejumping At the beginning of the 1939 field season, the Aerial Experimental Project was transferred from California to the North Pacific Region (Region 6). David P. Codwin, Assistant Chief of Fire Control, was in charge, with Lage Wernstedt representing the Region and The 30 foot diameter Eagle parachute Harold King as Forest Service pilot. was the first canopy style used by the It was during this summer that the smokejumpers. Used until 1944. 2 The selected training outfit, con- $30,000, or nearly three times the cost sisting of Eagle 30-foot backpack and of the entire project. 27-foot emergency chest-pack canopies with quick-attachable harness, appeared The first actual fire jumps were made to be satisfactory, while a two-piece, on July 12 by Rufus Robinson of felt-padded suit, football helmet with Kooskia, Idaho, and Earl Cooley of wire-mesh face mask, athletic Hamilton, Montana, on Martin Creek in supporter, ankle braces, combined back the Nezperce National Forest. Of and abdominal brace, and heavy logger historic note also is the first suc- boots completed the attire of the cessful "rescue jump" made by jumper and provided protection from the Smokejumper Chester N. Derry 3 days hitherto unknown hazards of timber later, to an airplane crash in the jumping. The conclusions were that Bitterroot Forest. This last incident, smokejumpers could land safely in all together with the subsequent parachute kinds of green timber cover common to training of Dr. Leo P. Martin of the Chelan National Forest at altitudes Missoula as the first "jumping doctor," ranging from 2,000 to 6,800 feet. marks the initial milestone in rescue Successful jumps were also made in jumping - an activity that continues to mountain meadows, open ridgetops and on develop and expand along with steep, boulder-strewn slopes. smokejumping. Both Derry and Dr. Martin were later killed in airplane crashes. An interesting sidelight - and one with far-reaching effects - pertains to the 1940 visit of four U.S. Army staff officers to the parachute training camp at First Practical Use of Missoula in June. One of these, Major William Cary Lee, later employed Forest Smokejumpers Service techniques and ideas in organizing the first paratroop training at Fort 'eoning, Georgia.* As a result of the experiments of the previous year, Regions 1 and 6 each organized a small squad of smokejumpers for the 1940 fire season. The latter Region developed its squad around a nucleus of Chelart iorp; ir:1s who had 1941 jumped during the experiments of the previous fall, while Region 1 selected Smokejumpers Used as "Shock a project leader and sent him to Winthrop to undergo initial spring Troops" on Bigger Fires training with Region 6. The technician who had been provided by the Eagle Company for the experiment of the previous fall was retained to serve both By early spring of 1941, it had been Regions through the training season. decided that the smokejumper project would be transferred wholly to Region 1 and centered at Missoula for the coming Due to a light fire season within the Region 6 sphere of activity, their squad had little action during the *Major Lee subsequently commanded summer. On the other hand, Region 1 the 101st Airborne Division which he jumpers handled nine selected fires took to England and trained for the in a season of the highest lightning Normandy invasion. He became first fire occurrence on record. An anal- Chief of the Airborne Command and is ysis of the nine fires indicated a regarded as the unquestioned father of net overall saving of approximately U.S.

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