Incident Name: Forest fire near Deppe, NC
Date: 4/17/1972
Personnel: James Melville Jones
Age: 56
Agency/Organization: North Carolina Forest Service
Position: firefighter, logistics
Summary: Early on the morning of April 17, 1972, Jimmy Jones died in a forest fire burning across the Pocosin. While moving equipment he became trapped when a wind-shift brought the fire back on him. (from the memorial plaque) If anyone knows more, please let us know.
Maps
Deppe, White Oak, NC
{mosmap lat=’34.848000’|lon=’-77.282603’|marker=’0’|text=’Deppe, White Oak, NC’}
If “the Pocosin” is Pocosin Lakes NWR, this is the general location.
{mosmap lat=’35.706846’|lon=’-76.353141’|marker=’0’|text=’Pocosin NWR, NC’}
Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- See the plaque in the memorial section.
- North Carolina, Deaths: possibly James Melvin Jones
Wildlandfire.com Links:
Media Articles and Reports
If anyone has news a article or more details, please share.
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
- Location of memorial marker from waymarking.com: James Melville Jones
Memorial located at Located on Forestry Center Circle in Deppe, North Carolina
{mosmap lat=’34.836550’|lon=’-77.301950’|marker=’0’|text=’Forestry Center Circle in Deppe, NC’}
Text:
In honor of James Melville Jones
Here, early on the morning of April 17, 1972, Jimmy Jones died in a forest fire burning across the Pocosin. While moving equipment he became trapped when a wind-shift brought the fire back on him.
This marker, erected in the year 2000, by his fellow-firefighters former employees of the Hoerner-Waldorf Corporation and the N.C. Forest Service.
We remember!
Contributors to this article: Mellie
Please support the Wildland Firefighter Foundation
