Incident Name: Cummins Creek Fire on the Umatilla National Forest (Pomery Ranger District)
Dates: Incident date: July 23, 1960; Death date: July 25, 1960
Personnel: Raymond Pike, 49, a Washinigton state inmate from Kelso, WA
Age: 49
Agency/Organization: State of Washington working for the US Forest Service
Position: firefighter
Summary:
Fire behavior across the region was explosive. On Saturday, July 23, Raymond Pike was entrapped on the 3,000 acre Cummins Creek Fire in Tum-a-Lum Canyon 18 mi south of Pomoroy WA. He died of his burns on Monday, July 25. He had volunteered to fight the fires with 100 other Honor Camp inmates. There were still 4 fires burning out of control on July 26: 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
Cummins Creek Fire in Tum-a-Lum Canyon 18 mi south of Pomoroy WA; nearest reference is Pomoroy WA.
{mosmap lat=’46.473306’|lon=’-117.603078’|marker=’0’|text=’Pomoroy WA’}
Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- Washington Death Index: Raymond Horace Pike
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Contributors to this article: Mellie
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