Incident Name: Crooked Creek Fire on the Umatilla National Forest (Pomery Ranger District)
Dates: July 23 and 24, 1960
Personnel: James Spencer, Jr, a Toppenish WA Indian
Age: 48
Agency/Organization:
Position: firefighter
Summary: Fire behavior across the region was explosive. On Sunday July 24, 1960 James Spencer Jr., was burned fatally when trapped by the southeastern Washington Crooked Creek Fire due to a sudden change of wind direction. The fire was burning 4 miles northwest of Troy Oregon He died in a Pomeroy hospital that night. There were 4 fires burning out of control: Wenatchee Creek (3000 acres), Crooked Creek (2200 acres), Mt Misery and West Tucannon (less than 400 acres each), but 40 other smaller lightning fires covering 500 acres in all were also burning on the Umatilla NF in Washington and Oregon.
Maps
fire 4 mi nw of Troy OR
{mosmap lat=’45.952473’|lon=’-117.453900’|marker=’0’|text=’Troy OR’}
Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- US Social Security Death Index: James Spencer
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Contributors to this article: Mellie
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