Incident Name: Tunnel 6 or No. 6 Fire, Tahoe National Forest, rear Sierra City, CA, historic gold rush ghost town
Date: 9/24/1954
Personnel: 3 lives lost
Age:
Agency/Organization: CDF, US Forest Service
Position: firefighters
Summary:
Mel Grodzik, 44
Frank Burr, 41
Richard Fierro, 32
Three firefighters died while sleeping on the fireline on the Tunnel 6 fire on September 24, 1954. The Mono (dry east) winds caused the fire to flare up at night and they were trapped in a canyon. Mel Grodzik, Frank Burr, Richard Fierro were sleeping in an unburned area at the edge of the fire and were overrun. They perished.
This incident promped the addition of an 18th “watchout” to the 18 Watchout Situations.
The #18 Situation that shouts Watch out! is taking a nap near the fireline…
Maps
near Sierra City, CA
{mosmap lat=’39.566488’|lon=’-120.634069’|marker=’0’|text=’near Sierra City, CA historic mining town’}
Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- Documentation of names of the three firefighters that died.
- California Death Index: Mel W Grodzik | Frank Burr | Richard Fierro
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Media Articles and Reports
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
Contributors to this article: Mellie
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