What Happened in Mann Gulch?
0n August 5, 1949, about 6:00 p.m., fifteen USDA Forest Service Smokejumpers and a Helena National Forest fire guard were entrapped by a wildfire in Mann Gulch that was caused by lightning struck trees. Ten jumpers and the forest guard perished that evening, two jumpers died later from burn injuries and three jumpers survived. The jumpers, dispatched from Missoula, had parachuted into Mann Gulch to help fight a lightning caused fire burning on the ridge between Meriwether and Mann Gulch. The jump plane arrived over the fire with the jumpers at 3:10 p.m. Spotter Earl Cooley and Jumper Foreman Wag Dodge chose a jump site up canyon in Mann Gulch. The fire size was estimated at 60 acres, but was still considered a routine fire. The air was quite turbulent, requiring a higher than normal approach causing the jumpers and cargo to scatter widely. Also, the cargo chute for the radio failed to open, leaving the jumpers without outside communication. By 5:00 p.m., the men had gathered their gear
