A Fiery Escape: The True Story of The Dole Fire of 1929

“Run for your lives!”

Heart racing, a young dark-haired man sprinted for the opening of a mine shaft a quarter of a mile away. Two men with him tore through brush and tangled weeds, lungs bursting as they struggled to outrun death.

The furious monster behind them hounded their steps, breathing down their necks, threatening to strip them of their very existence.

The shaft appeared –– a black chasm slicing a broad gash across a rocky crag.

Run for your lives!      

The date: September 15, 1929.

The place: Copper Creek on the south slope of the Cascade Mountains in Washington State.

The men: Three United States Forest Service Rangers, including Spirit Lake Ranger Al Wang––my grandfather.

This was the site of the Dole Fire, in what is now the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southwest Washington. Evergreen forests, pristine lakes, streams, and rivers covered the area, providing shelter for wildlife, flora and fauna, affording wonder and finery for nature lovers. But forest fires wreaked havoc.

In 1902, twenty-seven years before the Dole fire, the Yacolt fire occurred in the same region. One of the most destructive fires in Washington state history, 238,000 acres of forested land burned in thirty-six hours. Though the fire started in Oregon, on the other side of the Columbia River Gorge, winds carried burning debris across the river into Washington. Flames spread quickly. Dense smoke stretched for miles. At least sixty lives were lost. Homes and businesses were destroyed. A half inch of ash fell over Portland, Oregon and in Seattle smoke was so thick the city’s streetlights glowed.

Because of the area’s wet winters, lush new growth of timber flourishes. Soon the mountainsides are blanketed with beauty. But with the advent of strong winds blowing down the Gorge during a hot dry summer, this same new growth becomes like tinder – ripe for fires. Reburns of the Yacolt Burn happened time and again. Among them were the Washougal Fire of 1918, the Rock Creek Fire of 1927, and the Dole Fire of 1929.

In 1929 my grandfather, Forest Ranger and Mount Saint Helens lookout hired twenty men from the Portland area to help fight a small fire within the old Yacolt Burn, near the Lewis River. They set up base camp at a Forest Service Guard Station called Copper City. There, Grandpa was joined by Ranger Jim Huffman and a handful of other Forest Service men. Sent to put out spot fires in the surrounding area, my grandfather, Huffman, and Bob Lambert left camp for what was to be a two to three day job. Instead, it turned into a harrowing, life-threatening ordeal for them. Within a day, weather conditions changed. Humidity dropped, east winds blew at 50 to 60 mph, flames jumped from treetop to treetop, dense smoke and ash ensued.

The men had no idea where the main fire was or how fast it was traveling.

But they recognized the danger and sought shelter in the only place they could find – the mine shaft. They packed food and supplies from their camp for several hours. By 5:30 that evening the men made their last trip, gathering their bedrolls. On their return trip to the mine, spot fires ignited spontaneously around them, seeming to close in from every direction. My grandfather wrote, “The last one hundred yards or so was a race for life and we made the tunnel a half minute before the full force of the fire swept over it.”

The Rangers hung blankets over the mouth of the mine shaft and took turns throwing water over them to keep them from burning. Five and a half hours they spent in the cold, wet shaft, while the fire burned all around them.

At 11:30 that night they emerged but did not attempt to hike out until morning. Even then thick smoke darkened the sky, their way lit only by blazing snags. Ranger Huffman suffered greatly from the ordeal. Because of his weakened condition it took them nine hours to hike the seven miles to Yacolt, the nearest road. Sadly, District Ranger Huffman died within the month.

My grandfather, Ranger Al Wang was thirty years old at the time. His young wife and a year old son waited for him at home.

History could have been so different.

His fate could have been the same as Jim Huffman’s. But God spared him.

Three and a half years later my mother was born. Little Karen Ann Wang. She grew up, married, became the mother of five children, grandmother of ten, great-grandmother of eleven, and great-great-grandmother of one (so far).

When God spared my grandfather, He spared us as well.

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“Run for your lives!”

Heart racing, a young dark-haired man sprinted for the opening of a mine shaft a quarter of a mile away. Two men with him tore through brush and tangled weeds, lungs bursting as they struggled to outrun death.

The furious monster behind them hounded their steps, breathing down their necks, threatening to strip them of their very existence.

The shaft appeared –– a black chasm slicing a broad gash across a rocky crag.

Run for your lives!      

The date: September, 1924.

The place: One hundred miles from Barstow, Washington.

The men: District Ranger Al Wang, Uncle Tobias Carter, and a man named Paul.

Though the timeframe for Love, Mary Elisabeth is 1924, five years before the actual Dole Fire, I chose to weave it into her story. Mary Elisabeth’s Uncle Tobias is caught in the fire, along with Ranger Al.

My goal was to capture that time for my readers, especially my family. To capture the fears, the uncertainties, the hopes that people experienced during such a frightening time.

I wanted to go beyond, to bring to life an event that is recorded for history in For the Greatest Good: Early History of Gifford Pinchot National Forest by Rick McClure and Cheryl Mack (affiliate link), published by the Northwest Interpretive Association, Seattle, Washington.

I wanted to remind us that it happened in real life, to real people whose lives were affected forever.

My grandfather has been gone for many years – since 1968 – but his brave fight for life, his determination, his quick thinking during the Dole Fire is not only documented but lives on in the memories of those he loved and those who came after.