By Suzanne Rice wife of COL Bill Rice, 1-84 Field Artillery, Ft. Lewis, Washington
Yellowstone National Park is on fire!
In the 1940’s, fire, like disease, insect infestation, and weather damage, was considered a normal agent of change for the forests in the United States. In the 1950’s and the 1960’s, the Forest Service began to experiment with controlled burns to rid the forests of underbrush and dead trees in the national forests. By the 1970’s, Yellowstone Park itself had instituted a fire management plan – in part, they believed that lightning-caused fires could be allowed to continue to burn. This plan was devised because many species living in the park are fire-adapted. The Lodgepole pines which make up 80 percent of the park’s forests have cones that are sealed by resin until the heat of fire cracks them and releases the seeds inside. Fire also regenerates sagebrush, aspen and willows and although the above ground parts of grasses and wildflowers (forbs) are destroyed by flames, the root systems remain unharmed. Some of these native plants even increase after fires. Between 1972 and 1987, 235 fires were allowed to burn with only 15 of these fires burning more than 100 acres and all were extinguished by natural conditions.
The weather conditions from 1982-1987 were wetter than normal, so this plan was well received by visitors to the Park and from those living nearby. The months of early 1988 seemed to be continuing the same weather pattern until June, when a severe drought began. That summer became the driest on record in Yellowstone National Park and in June a fire began at Storm Creek. By July 15, the smoke from additional fires had become noticeable to visitors and in only a week 150,000 acres were burning. Park facilities and roads were closed to the public and residents of nearby towns outside the park were fearful of destruction to their property.
Call in the Army! For several months brave civilian firefighters fought the fires, but as the 253 fires were fed and spread by hot weather and gusty winds throughout June and July, it was clear that these heroic firefighters were coming to the point of exhaustion. Soldiers from Fort Lewis, Washington were called to service. The soldiers were given several weeks of fire training and then shipped off to Yellowstone to help. Many of these were soldiers in the Ninth Infantry Division Artillery.
As the Battalion Commander of the First Battalion, 84th Field Artillery (LAR – the only Light Artillery and Rocket Battalion in the U.S. Army), Bill went to Yellowstone several times in August to learn about where and how his Battalion would be used to help fight the fires that had been raging in Yellowstone all summer. At Ft. Lewis before going to Yellowstone, along with his soldiers, he received detailed instruction on how to successfully assist in fighting the fires and to be able to protect themselves from injury. His battalion was scheduled to leave Ft. Lewis for Yellowstone Park on 12 September to replace members of another Field Artillery Battalion.
In life, as the old saying goes, timing is everything. Much to the relief of the families of 1-84 FA, an amazing thing happened on 11 September 1988: two inches of snow fell in Yellowstone Park! That snow stopped the fires and the soldiers of 1-84 FA, who had finished their fire training, had their duffle bags packed and were ready to board planes for Yellowstone Park, were told to stay home! What a blessing for Yellowstone Park, for the residents of nearby towns, for visitors to the park and especially for the exhausted firefighters who had been on the fire line for so many months. Between June and September 1988, almost one third of Yellowstone National Park had burned. Many firefighters and soldiers from Ft. Lewis fought to keep the fires under control. American soldiers can never be sure how they will be asked to serve our country, but they are always ready to do whatever they are asked when our nation calls.
Bravo 1st of the 11th FA. I was there also my whole battalion was there.
Thanks, John. That was a hard job for you and the soldiers of 1-11 FA.
That’s for sure. Alpha Battery 1st/11 FA
15th Engineer Battalion as a whole was there too. I was 3rd Platoon, A Company.
I was there too A co 15th En BN.
Great story…thanks…just visited Yellowstone in May this year with my wife, Mercedes, for the first time in my life ever…what a national treasure !
Thanks, Rick. I had twin great-aunts who traveled there from Illinois in the 1930’s. I heard their stories and saw the photos they took of the bears eating right out of the rumble seat in the back of their car. What an adventure you must have had, too.
Thanks, Suzanne. The magnitude of this effort recalls but exceeds the fire-fighting we did as Yearlings while at Buckner during the summer of 1966. Fires show no mercy.
Stew, I had no idea that your classmates had done firefighing! Thanks for sharing that unusual cadet experience. The Army can do anything! Guess you learned that as cadets.
Thanks for this great story and also for the intro with the very interesting history of Yellowstone.
Hi! Geoff, I’m learning a lot by doing research for the bulletins. Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks, Suzanne, I enjoy your stories … and of course all you do with The Days Forward. Based on your stories, Bill certainly had an interesting career.
Thanks, Ray. It is my honor to be able to work with the men of the Class of 1969 and their ladies. Like all Army officers, Bill did what he was asked to do and it turned out to be a varied and fulfilling life. Never a dull moment!
Thanks, again Suzanne, for another great story. I’ve yet to make it to Yellowstone but enjoy the history and pictures. I forgot Bill was also artillery – so wish we had met up sooner.
Hi! Janie, I wish we had known each other when Mike and Bill were with us, too, but it is my pleasure to call you my friend now. Glad you enjoyed the story.
Suzanne,
Great article, & great narrative about Yellowstone. We were supposed to visit in spring of 2020, but the pandemic postponed our plans; we will be visiting spring of next year. A family first.
Have a great trip, Denis. Write a story about it! Thank you.
When Linda and I visited several National Parks on a tour in 2006, we stayed in two separate hotels in Yellowstone. I remember eating in the restaurant in the photo. I think we had elk.
I also remember the photo shop in the picture. I took a whole 36 image roll of photos with my 35mm camera, only to discover that the film had not been properly attached to the take-up spool, so I had nothing at all.
Wow, Bob! What a coincidence that you ate at the restaurant in the photo. I’ve never eaten elk – was it good? Thanks for sharing your memories of Yellowstone. Sorry about your photos – cameras were more complicated back then!
My uncle Bud Estey was Chief Park Ranger at Yellowstone from 1975 through 1981, during the time when the NPS decided they would “Let it burn.” I visited him and the Park many times during that period.
National forests, under the Department of Agriculture, are tree farms, and fires are prevented by controlled burns, and fought vigorously. They are ‘Smokey the Bear’ territory. The American public doesn’t understand the difference.
The. National Parks are intended to be nature preserves, with no efforts made to fight natural fires except when they threaten buildings or people. The 1988 fires were a perfect part of nature’s Cycle of Life.
The efforts to fight nature’s fires that year were because of public and news media pressures on the Administration. Fire fighters should never have been deployed. They were completely ineffective against Mother Nature. It was fortunate for the Park that Bill and his battalion did not deploy.
Nature caused the fires, nature depends on the fires, and nature put them out when it was time. Anyone who visited the Park after 1988 discovered a complete eruption of fresh green life and thriving animals among the burned skeletons of trees.
In fact, only a portion of the entire park burned in 1988. The majority of the real estate within the park boundaries was completely untouched by fire that year. The news media focused only on the blazing trees and the fleeing wildlife, in order to create a public storm of sentiment to “do something.”
News media don’t care a whit about the Cycle of Life. True then and true today.
— guy
Dear Guy, After the Yellowstone experience, we learned more of what you wrote. There are some evergreen trees and plants that only regenerate with a fire. God’s plan is better than humans can even imagine. Thanks for sharing your information.
Suzanne —
Same thing with the Redwoods fire in Sequoia NP in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom is screaming for Federal help and money to stop Mother Nature from maintaining the Cycle of Life for the giant trees.
— guy
Very interesting information, Guy. I agree that the average bear (no pun intended) does not know the difference about such things. I for one didn’t, & appreciate your explanation.
Suzanne, it was so interesting to read “Days Forward” about the fires in Yellowstone and Bill’s part in it. I had never heard about that event. We were living in Costa Rica at the time and not hearing all the news from the U.S. Our T.V. reception was not the best. Sometimes, that can be a blessing!! Now in the U.S. we get so much news; it is hard to digest it all!! Actually, I do not even look at the T.V. anymore. A friend who got rid of her T.V. many years ago had a good point. She told me, ” If it’s important, someone will tell me about it eventually!” For her that was good enough.
Hi! Carol,
We had the same experience of culture shock/ignorance of American current events when we lived in Germany for four years. It was amazing to find out all the things that we had missed, but we had such a wonderful experience there, it was worth it!
Stewart, I recently had a discussion with one of our classmates, from 1st Reg, about our fighting that fire at Camp Buckner. I thought our entire class was called out but he knew nothing about it. I remember it vividly. Carrying filled 5 gallon cans of water on our backs and hiking up and down those hills all night. I don’t thing we knew where we were most of the time and trying to avoid the ever changing direction of the fire. We used the small hoses on the water cans to put out our small section of the fire. I was confused, terrified, at times, and exhausted but eventually very proud that we had made a contribution to slowing/stopping the fire. I did wonder about the OIC’s decision to use us in that manner. What if a number of cadets would have been hurt or worse?
These fire fighters are my HEROES!!! Terrific story and wonderful, educational comments.
Tom, Thank you for sharing this amazing cadet story. Maybe, it was only your regiment they called to fight the fires? You were so effective that no others were needed! Our first responders as well as our soldiers are heroes!
Thanks, Suzanne. Wonderful story.
Thank you, Pete. We were lucky to get to experience the Great Northwest being assigned to Ft. Lewis. What a wonderful place!
Thanks, Suzanne, I remember you and Bill talking about this adventure years ago. It’s always good to read your stories, so keep ’em coming!
Thanks, Eric. It is nice to reminisce and tell Bill’s stories. With a two month old baby at home at that time, I might have been the happiest person at Ft. Lewis when I heard about the heavy snow that ended the fires!
Dear Suzanne:
Thanks for the fascinating story!
BTW, here are some Smokey Bear (“Only you can prevent….”) insights: https://www.fs.usda.gov/features/story-smokey-bear
Thanks again!
Best regards & BOTL,
Bill
PS: And in response to some other replies, I must admit I, too, was one of the cadets who slept blissfully through the whole Buckner fire event.
Thanks, Bill. I enjoyed the Smokey Bear info. That campaign was definitely a part of my childhood. Nice to remember. I am happy to share Bill’s stories. Being an Army officer provided so many amazing experiences.
Thanks for a great story, Suzanne. It brought back many memories. I was in command of 4/23 Infantry at Ft. Lewis and in the field on a Friday night when a garbled radio message told me to return the battalion to barracks. After sending my XO in to find out what was going on, we discovered we were to be the 1st active duty battalion to be deployed to fight the fires. We came back in to main post Saturday morning and were on airplanes to Bozeman on Monday. It was a unique experience that was highlighted by the beautiful scenery and a visit by John Marsh then the Secretary of the Army. He was fascinated since he had fought fires as a young man. Several years later I was asked to speak at the dedication of a cabin used by soldiers in the 1800s and saw the remarkable regeneration during a special tour a ranger took me on. I recently found a stack of pictures my S-3 took that shows all aspects of this unique adventure. Thanks for reminding me of it.
Frank
Thanks, Frank. Looks like you have a story to tell. We’ll all be looking forward to reading it!
Wow a blast from the past; 1988, stationed in Ft Lewis, WA. 2bn 60th Inf, C Co. Pulled from National Training Center to support fire fighting efforts in 1988.
Svc Btry, 1Bn 11th FA. Was there; also it brought us together like no other time. Probably one of the most hardest jobs I’ve ever been apart of. Thanks to all my comrades. Never will forget you Brothers.
HHB 1-11 FA, I was there also, 35 years later and I still go out west on fires when I get time. We had a crew boss from California, he kept us safe and taught us much!! Slept in a shelter half tent with a fellow soldier, 30 days. It was hard work, but we persevered!! One of my best memories serving in the US Army
I know it has been a while since this was put out but I can proudly say that my unit Aco 3/9 aviation was part of the firefight effort at Yellowstone . I have to say that the people treat us like royalty even though it was a very sad moment for that beautiful place it’s made us proud to be there helping one of my many memories I have of serving my country just wanted to let you know. Thank you for your time.
My engineer unit was part of the 9th ID in 88. We spent months there. At first they said we could go home when it rained, so we did rain dances. Then they said we had to wait for it to snow. So we played and wallowed in the cold wet mud, praying for the snow that eventually began to fall. When they told us we had to wait for it to lay a foot or more deep, we figured our chains were being pulled. Finally we broke down our pup tents and dredged through the knee deep snow for our flight home. We joked the Army had allowed it to snow so we wouldn’t collect TDY pay after being there for 6 months. Time there was interesting. I saw a grizzly eating a bbq’ed bison. Saw a bison ram our bus because we were teasing it. Put out embers (for lack of a better word) that we’re flying from the wall of flames to our front, and setting new fires a football field or more to our rear. I outran flames downhill to a river, and was terrified I’d have to use my fire shelter on the daily. I remember well the day we were choppered in to the middle of nowhere to remove all the fuel around a forest service cabin that burnt to the ground despite our best efforts. I swear the pilots saw combat in Vietnam the way they gave us the ride of our lives just over the tree tops yelling “yee haw!” The whole time. Then the clergy came around handing out hot dogs and marshmallows on the fire line, that really took the cake. Not a lot of fun, but certainly not boring. Sleeping on that yoga mat in a two man shelter for all those months was an adventure in itself.