Smokejumper, US Forest Service; crew chief on the Mann Gulch Fire of August 5, 1949. He was able to save himself by lighting a small grass fire ahead of the main fire which was racing up the hillside toward the smokejumper team. He then lay face down in the ashes of the area he'd burned as the main fire divided itself and bypassed him. Most of his crew was either unable or unwilling to follow his lead; 13 firefighters died, only two others besides Dodge survived.
The story of the fire and its aftermath is told in Norman MacLean's book Young Men and Fire (1992). James Keelaghan's song "Cold Missouri Waters" (2004) tells the story of the fire from a dying Dodge's point of view. The film Red Skies of Montana (1952) stars Richard Widmark as a character loosely based on Dodge.
Cause of death: non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
The story of the fire and its aftermath is told in Norman MacLean's book Young Men and Fire (1992). James Keelaghan's song "Cold Missouri Waters" (2004) tells the story of the fire from a dying Dodge's point of view. The film Red Skies of Montana (1952) stars Richard Widmark as a character loosely based on Dodge.
Cause of death: non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
Smokejumper, US Forest Service; crew chief on the Mann Gulch Fire of August 5, 1949. He was able to save himself by lighting a small grass fire ahead of the main fire which was racing up the hillside toward the smokejumper team. He then lay face down in the ashes of the area he'd burned as the main fire divided itself and bypassed him. Most of his crew was either unable or unwilling to follow his lead; 13 firefighters died, only two others besides Dodge survived.
The story of the fire and its aftermath is told in Norman MacLean's book Young Men and Fire (1992). James Keelaghan's song "Cold Missouri Waters" (2004) tells the story of the fire from a dying Dodge's point of view. The film Red Skies of Montana (1952) stars Richard Widmark as a character loosely based on Dodge.
Cause of death: non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
The story of the fire and its aftermath is told in Norman MacLean's book Young Men and Fire (1992). James Keelaghan's song "Cold Missouri Waters" (2004) tells the story of the fire from a dying Dodge's point of view. The film Red Skies of Montana (1952) stars Richard Widmark as a character loosely based on Dodge.
Cause of death: non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
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