For some people the idea of jumping out of an airplane seems somewhat dangerous, and jumping out of an airplane to land in a forest fire seems not only dangerous but perhaps somewhat crazy. The highly trained elite group of firefighters who parachute in to fight forest fires in remote and rugged areas are known as smokejumpers.
In 1935, Evan Kelly, Regional Forester of Region One of the U.S. Forest Service said:
“I think anyone who considers jumping out of an airplane to be crazy.”
In spite of Kelly’s concerns, the U.S. Forest Service’s smokejumper program was launched in 1940 when two firefighters—Rufus Robinson of Kooskia, Idaho, and Earl Cooley of Hamilton, Montana—parachuted into the Idaho mountains south of the Selway River to fight a forest fire. The two men spent the next day and a half putting out a small fire near Marten Creek on the Nez Perce National Forest. Then, like today’s smokejumpers, they walked out. As with the first jump, today’s smokejumpers always jump in pairs.
Both men hung up in trees upon landing: Robinson found himself just two feet off the ground, while Cooley’s chute was tangled at the top of a 120-foot spruce tree. While the two pioneering smokejumpers got hung up in trees, today’s smokejumpers report that this is the exception and one smokejumper estimated that it happened less than 10% of the time. He went on to tell me:
“It’s the softest landing that you will ever have.”
While having to climb down from a tree is rare, the smokejumper’s kit includes a special rope which can be used for descent.
Today there are 350-400 smokejumpers who work from 11 bases in the western United States. About 10% of today’s smokejumpers are women. According to one Forest Service display:
“Just as driving a fire truck is the most efficient way to get to a city fire, smokejumping is still the fastest way to get crews to remote wildland fires.”
Shown above are photographs of the rigorous training for the smokejumpers.
Aircraft:
The DC-3, shown above as a model, is a World War II aircraft which replaced the Ford Trimotor as a jumpship after the war. In 1991, the DC-3 was retrofitted with turbine engines.
Shown above is a DC-3 on the tarmac at the Missoula Smokejumper Center. The plane holds 16 smokejumpers and is kept fully loaded and ready to take off. One they get the word to go, the smokejumpers will be suited up and in the plane in ten minutes or less.
Parachutes:
Shown above is the parachute room at the Missoula Smokejumper Base.
Smokejumpers pack their own parachutes.
Clothing:
According to the display at the Smokejumper Center:
“When the barnstormers came from California in 1939 to start the smokejumping program, they brought with them a tradition of creating what they needed for flying and jumping. This continues today. Jumpers are able to modify and improve their own clothing and jump gear, right here at the jump base.”
Shown above is the sewing center at the Missoula Smokejumper Base.
Supply Boxes:
Supply boxes, such as those shown above in a DC-3 on display in the Museum of Mountain Flying, are dropped in sets of two to provide the smokejumpers with some basic equipment once they are on the ground. These are dropped from an altitude of 900 feet using a 16 foot cargo chute.
This display shows the inside of a supply box and some of the equipment which is dropped to the firefighters.
Smokejumpers can stay on the fire lines for up 21 days. During this time they are kept supplied with many resource drops.
Shown above is a display of the food rations which are included in the supply boxes.
Drinking water is vital. Shown above is a Cubee (Q-B), a five gallon box of drinking water. These are dropped using as 12-foot diameter cargo chute.
Mann Gulch Fire:
On August 5, 1949, 12 Smokejumpers were killed in the Mann Gulch Fire. Fire conditions changed rapidly resulting in the deaths. Shown above is the DC-3 operated by Johnson Flying Service which brought them to the fire. This aircraft is on display at the Museum of Mountain Flying.