History of Smokejumping

A career development program was adopted for forestry students who desired field training. They were given refresher training and then assigned to a Forest subject to recall for emergency fire duty. The fire season was difficult and these men were called in for smokejumping along with men from other Regions. For years Region 1 had loaned jumpers where critical fire conditions warranted and, for the first time, in 1960 it was necessary to call for help from other Regions.

This year all smokejumpers were equipped with the newly approved and tested white nylon jump suits.

The television program, "You Asked For It," produced a short picture on smokejumping, in which the highlights were given on training and the actual jumper attack with the Ford tri-motor.

One hundred 32-foot (FS-5) parachutes were purchased and later overhauled to meet the FS-5A specification.

Walt Disney produced a television picture, "A Fire Called Jeremiah," on smokejumping and firefighting at Missoula. The Johnson Flying Service furnished a C-46 aircraft for smokejumping and cargo dropping. The ship hauls 24 smokejumpers and their fire fighting equipment.

Twenty smokejumpers were detailed in June to Fairbanks, Alaska, to supplement the Bureau of Land Management 24-man jumper base on a recall basis for Region 1, beginning July 1.

A crew of six smokejumpers jumped on the Crooked Creek fire with four of the one-man flail trenchers and gave them a thorough shakedown on a going fire.

A total of 150 FS-5A parachutes were purchased as replacements for chutes destroyed or seriously damaged on fires. A higher percentage of personnel parachutes were damaged this year due to the severe fire season, and a record was established with a total of 1,938 jumps; 1,446 were jumps made in Region 1 and 492 were out of the Region. The previous high was 1,131 jumps in 1953.

The fireproof orange-colored shirts were adopted by Region 1 as standard equipment for all smokejumpers and special 25-man inter-Regional crews.

Region 1 increased the smokejumper organization to 171 men.

A 25-man fire suppression crew was established and set up at Ninemile for inter-Regional use. This crew was well trained and was successful in firefighting. It was used in several Regions.

The Yellowstone National Park organization was increased from five to nine men. The additional jumpers were to cover parts of Regions 2 and 4.

A second inter-Regional, 25-man fire suppression crew was established and based at Adams Ranger Station on the Nezperce Forest.

The first jump on a forest fire in Colorado was accomplished by two men from Missoula in September.

Twenty smokejumpers were detailed to Fairbanks, Alaska, to supplement the Bureau of Land Management 24-man jumper base.

L. M. (Locke) Stewart, Air Operations Officer for Region 1 for the past 12 years, died on December 8, 1962, from a cerebral hemorrhage.

On August 4, the Region set a new record for total jumps in 1 day: 105 jumps to 34 fires.

On September 28, due to unseasonably warm and dry weather, a late fire season period developed. The number of jumpers remaining in the organization was not sufficient to handle the fire requests. A call was made to colleges and universities in Montana, Idaho, and Washington, requesting smokejumpers return to Missoula to assist in the fire situation. The men and the schools were very cooperative. The following morning 86 jumpers were available at the Missoula base. From September 20 to October 4, smokejumpers made 130 jumps to 24 fires. The last jump of the 1963 season was on October 11.

The 1963 season saw the adoption of the "D-Bag" as a standard type parachute deployment. Plastic water containers, battery-operated cargo locaters, and fiberboard containers were all new equipment items adopted for use.

A third inter-Regional 25-man fire suppression crew was organized. It was based at Trapper Creek, in the Bitterroot National Forest.

Eleven smokejumpers were detailed to other Regions, and 20 men to the Bureau of Land Management in Alaska.

Henry J. Viche was named Air Operations Officer.

Heavy June rains caused extensive flood damage in the Lewis & Clark and Flathead National Forests. Rains continued through August; below normal temperatures prevailed until October. Smokejumper activity was the lightest since 1954: 348 jumps on 68 fires. The first jumper fire of the season was on July 3; the last jumper fire was October 25.

The largest single action of the year involved 60 jumpers on the Parsnip Mountain fire in the Kootenai National Forest. The effectiveness of smokejumpers as a mobile, initial attack force was demonstrated August 9 when a fire in the Gallatin National Forest (250 air miles from Missoula) was manned by 12 jumpers 2 hours and 15 minutes after the call was received at the Aerial Fire Depot in Missoula.

Five jumpers were dropped on a fire in the Shoshone National Forest. This was the second Region 2 fire manned by smokejumpers from the Missoula base.

Due to the light fire season, smokejumpers were used extensively as project crews for over 44,000 man-hours of work on the various Districts.

Air Force personnel, connected with the X-15 Rocket Recovery program, attended a 2-week training session at the Missoula base. The course was designed to qualify men to parachute in rough terrain and timber on rescue missions.

Fifteen Federal Aviation Agency District Safety Inspectors completed an 80-hour course in parachute rigging at the Missoula Aerial Fire Depot.

Smokejumpers from Region 1 and Region 4 were detailed to Region 3, as in former years. A 20-man contingent was assigned to the Bureau of Land Management in Alaska for 1 month.

Heavy rains throughout the summer resulted in a very light fire season. The lowest number (322) of fire jumps since 1955 were made in Region 1. The most active period was July 21-31, with 126 jumps to 40 fires. Only 666 acres were burned within the Region. This is the lowest burned acreage ever recorded in this Region.

Region 1 operated the Interagency base at West Yellowstone. Previously, the base was operated by Yellowstone National Park. Eight smokejumpers were assigned to the base with headquarters in the Airport Terminal Building. Only one fire was manned. In December, a contract was awarded for construction of the center. Facilities will include loft-warehouse office, 16-man dormitory, retardant plant, paved access road, taxiway, and parking area. Cooperating in financing the base are: U.S. Forest Service — Region 1; U.S. Forest Service — Region 2; U.S. Forest Service — Region 4; Yellowstone National Park; Grand Teton National Park; Bureau of Land Management; Bureau of Indian Affairs; Bureau of Sport Fisheries.

Twelve jumpers were detailed to Region 3 for the period May 15-August 1. A 20-man crew was assigned to the Bureau of Land Management, Alaska, for the period May 29-July 28. Missoula-based jumpers were dispatched several times during the season to assist Region 6.

Personnel trained two groups of Federal Aviation Agency Inspectors for FAA Senior Parachute Rigger certificates.

Personnel from the U.S. Air Force X-15 Rocket Recovery program were trained in the fundamentals of spotting, cargo dropping, parachute retrieving, and jumping into rough mountainous terrain.

The activity of the Grangeville subbase was near normal with 95 jumps to 35 fires.

It was a long, steady fire season. Smokejumpers made 1,564 jumps to 355 fires throughout the West, including Alaska.

First action of the season was May 7 and continued until October 4. The Region had 185 smokejumpers. This included eight stationed at the West Yellowstone (Montana) Interagency base. This small unit of smokejumpers made 91 jumps to 42 fires. In addition to fire jumps, 34 fires were manned by 268 men who reached the fires by ground transportation. Smokejumpers performed an alltime high 70,000 man-hours of fire suppression work.

Out-of-Region details consisted of 12 men to Region 3 for the period of May 12 through July 15 and 20 men to the Bureau of Land Management at Fairbanks, Alaska, May 28 to the last of July.

Special spotting and timber jumping technique training sessions were conducted at the Missoula Aerial Fire Depot for U.S. Air Force rescue personnel assigned to the X-15 Rocket Recovery program. The fourth class of Federal Aviation Agency personnel was given 2 weeks of training in parachute rigging.

Producers of the "Lassie" television program used local facilities for many of the sets in a fire control episode.

Vice President Humphrey, Senator Lee Metcalf, and Representative Arnold Olsen were given a personal tour of the smokejumper base.

Construction was started on operating facilities at the West Yellowstone Interagency base.

The 1,687 jumps to 371 fires set a new record for the use of smokejumpers within the Region's area of responsibility. The demand for smokejumpers was so great that personnel from Regions 4, 5, and 6 were detailed to assist the Region. For the first time in history, smokejumpers from the Bureau of Land Management base at Fairbanks, Alaska, were used.

The Region's total number of smokejumpers was increased to 188 in order to have a full complement of 13 smokejumpers stationed in the new facilities at the Interagency Fire Control Center at West Yellowstone, Montana. The largest class of new recruits (92) started training on June 5. Seventy-four completed the course.

Records were established in the total use of Region 1 jumpers throughout the West. They worked over 90,000 man hours on fire suppression, made 2,220 jumps to 527 fires. The complement of 17 smokejumpers stationed at the satellite base at Grangeville, Idaho, made 257 jumps to 80 fires.

As in the past, special training sessions were conducted for the U.S. Air Force rescue personnel and parachute riggers of the Federal Aviation Agency.

Chief Pilot Floyd O. Bowman, who had worked in Region 1 for over 20 years, died in August after a short illness. Frank A. Borgeson was appointed as replacement.

The late spring and heavy summer rains that began August 14 kept the Region's fire danger at a low level. Out-of-Region activity in Regions 3, 6, and Bureau of Land Management-Alaska accounted for 67 percent of the unit's jumping activity. Records were established with 57 smokejumpers at one time in Region 3. A record of 107 smokejumpers on assignment to BLM-Alaska was also established.

Turbo-Porter and Twin Otter airplanes were used by this unit for jumping for the first time.

Frank Deery, the original developer of smokejumping methods and parachute equipment, inventor of the Deery slots for steering parachutes, died at Big Fork, Montana, on August 2, 1968.

The palletized roller system was adopted as standard equipment for DC-3-cargo-dropping missions.

Turbine-powered helicopters became a part of the Region's contract air fleet.

The fire season was more severe than 1968, had some of the characteristics of the 1967 season, but there were few August and September thunderstorms on west side National Forests. There were few simultaneous lightning fire starts. This resulted in low smokejumper activity in the Northern Region.

Out-of-Region activity was above average. Crews were again assigned to Region 3 (Southwest) and the Bureau of Land Management in Alaska. The Flathead Indian Agency discontinued the financing of four smokejumpers, previously recruited, trained, and stationed at the Missoula Aerial Fire Depot for use by the Indian Agency.

E. R. DeSilvia, Chief of the Division of Fire Control; John E. Nash, equipment specialist; and Harry D. Shryock, project clerk, completed long Forest Service tours of duty and retired during the year. William R. (Bud) Moore replaced DeSilvia as Chief of the Division of Fire Control.

The Ford Tri-Motor and Travelair airplanes were retired from use. The Twin Otter, Beechcraft E-18's, B-17 Flying Fortress, and PB4Y2 air tankers became a formal part of the Region's air fleet. The T-10 parachute was tested, found satisfactory, and adopted for Service-wide use.

Missoula-based smokejumpers participated in the filming of two "Wild Kingdom" television programs in western Montana.