Incident Name: Walton Spur Fire
Date: 9/24/49
Personnel: Harry T. Meyer, Groveland rancher and lumber worker
Age: 35
Agency/Organization: US Forest Service
Position: firefighter, faller
Summary:
Lightning started a dozen fires on the Stanislaus National Forest and at least three merged into one that became the worst fire since 1934. Strong 25 mph winds whipped it across 8000 acres and 7.5 miles in three days. Trying to top a flaming tree, Harry Meyer the faller was hit by the falling section. His neck was broken. He was given first aid at the line by a volunteer and a nurse recruited from Groveland, the firefighting base. He died an hour later.
Maps
Harry Meyer died on the Tuolumne County side of a ridge about 2 miles to the rear of the memorial marker.
{mosmap lat=’37.790811’|lon=’-120.064255’|marker=’0’|text=’approximate location where Harry Meyer was struck by the tree, appx 2 mi to the rear of the Memorial to Harry Meyer & Arch Selby’}
Memorial to Harry Meyer & Arch Selby is about 10 mi east of Groveland, beside old Hwy 120 just east of Buck Meadows; both fatality locations are within 2 mi of the marker.
{mosmap lat=’37.814913’|lon=’-120.062359’|marker=’0’|text=’Memorial to Harry Meyer & Arch Selby E of Buck Meadows’}
Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- USFS Heroes Memorial: Harry T Meyer
Wildlandfire.com Links:
Media Articles and Reports
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
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- Memorial Plaque Tribute on the Stanislaus. If you have a picture with lat/lon where you took it, please send it in.
In memoriam
Harry T. Meyer 1913-1940
Archie S Selby 1906-1949
This plaque erected in memory
of the above two residents of
the Groveland District who lost
their lives on the Walton Spur
Forest Fire on August 24, 1949
two miles from this memorial.
- Memorial Plaque Tribute on the Stanislaus. If you have a picture with lat/lon where you took it, please send it in.
Contributors to this article: Mellie
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