Incident Name: Midway Fire in Wasatch Mountain State Park
Date: 08/26/1990
Personnel: 2 Lives Lost
Age:
Agency/Organization: Utah Lands & Forestry (Wasatch County)
Position: firefighters
Summary:
Ralph M Broadhead, 64, Equipment Operator, Road Department
Blake V Wright, 38, Deputy Sheriff
A fire started adjacent to Wasatch Mountain State Park on August 26 near Midway, UT. Exact details of the entrapment are unknown, but NWCG reports that winds increased in speed and changed direction. The fire, burning in brush and timber with 50 foot flame lengths, was seen spotting into canyons. Hundreds of residents from subdivisions with limited ingress/egress were evacuated. “The fire was burning so fast you could not drive a car out fast enough to escape it.” Dozer Operator Blake and Deputy Sheriff Broadhead were working on a firebreak to protect the wildland-urban interface community when the fire rolled over them. One shelter was deployed. News articles report Wright and Broadhead lost radio contact and were fatally burned. Their bodies were found later the next morning near the bulldozer they were using to clear the firebreak.
Maps
west of Midway, UT, west of the Swiss Alpine area, Wasatch Mountain State Park
{mosmap lat=’40.515245’|lon=’-111.508842’|marker=’0’|text=’Approximate Burnover Location’}
Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- Historical Wildland Firefighter Fatalities 1910-1996 (page 10): From NWCG (616 K pdf)(scroll down to 1990: “Waist State Park”. Name of park is incorrect, as there is no Waist State Park in Utah.)
- Ralph’s and Blake’s names and death date are included in the USFA Firefighter Fatality Retrospective Study, published April 2002 (2,888 K pdf)
- NWCG Safetygram from 1990
Date: 8/26/90; Location: Utah State Park; Cause: Entrapment (2); Organization: State
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Wildlandfire.com Links:
- TheySaid: April 4, 2011, scroll up.
Media Articles and Reports.
- Members find strength amid forest fire tragedy: From LDS Church News 9/8/90
“Two LDS firefighters, Wasatch County Deputy Sheriff Blake V. Wright, 38, and Ralph M. Broadhead, 64, a Wasatch County road crew worker, were killed in the blaze in a mountainside resort area as they fought to build a firebreak.
Wright, the father of six children, was a member of the Heber 5th Ward. Broadhead, the father of five, was a member of the Heber 7th Ward. Both are in the Heber City Utah Stake.
Elder Marvin J. Ashton of the Council of the Twelve spoke at the funeral services for both men at the Heber City Utah Stake Center on Aug. 30.
- Funerals
- Billion Graves: Ralph Broadhead, more information | Blake Wright, more information
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
- USFA Database: Ralph Broadhead | Blake Wright
- Utah Firefighters Line of Duty Deaths, 1920-2012 by Steve Lutz
Contributors to this article: Mellie, S.R. Sparky, Joe Broadhead
Please support the Wildland Firefighter Foundation
my grandfather was ralph broadhead who died in the fire with blake wright. I have been trying to find news paper articles of his funeral. it has a photo of me caring his coffin. then my last name was Martinez I had it changed later. he and my grandma raised me. anyway, would someone please point me in the right way.
Hi Joe,
Someone sent me the article.
Send me an email at planning under the contact tab…
Condolences on your loss. He sounds like he was a good man to many.
here is my email joebroadhead@hotmail.com
thank you so much for the news paper article of my grandfather ralph. I am now going to try and find old news footage so I can show my kids. again thank you