Heroic Efforts Save Mill from Raging Forest Fire
A forest fire in the mountains above Dayton decimated one mill, while employees fought flames with water and back-firing techniques to save a second property.
A teamster arriving from the mountains brings news of a large fire raging near Dayton. On Sunday, despite strenuous efforts to check the blaze, it reached the Grupe Bros. mill twelve miles above the town, destroying the mill and 1,500,000 feet of fine lumber. At the same time, the fire approached Griffin & Marvin's mill. Workers used heroic measures—firing against the blaze and employing water—to save the property just in time.
“It took heroic efforts to save it, but they finally, by firing against it, and by use of water checked the flames, just in time to save their property.”
Wildfire remains a perennial existential threat to the timber economy and rural communities in Eastern Washington. This 1880s account reflects the high-stakes, manual labor approach to fire suppression that defined the region before the era of organized aerial support.
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