HELENA — On Monday, August 5, 1949, in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness just north of Helena, the Mann Gulch Fire burned thousands of acres. The historic fire claimed 13 lives—12 smokejumpers and one former smokejumper—and changed the way the U.S. fought future wildfires.
Local, state, and federal officials have spent the last few months preparing events to remember and honor the Mann Gulch firefighters.
Monday morning at 10:30, the city officially celebrated the completion of a new mural recognizing the men’s sacrifice and the impact of the wildfire in Montana.
The Helena community gathered at the mural, located in Centennial Park on the tunnel that crosses under Lyndale Avenue, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The event included a visit from Miss Montana, the aircraft that dropped the smokejumpers near the fire. The ceremony honored the Mann Gulch firefighters' sacrifice.
Helena artist Elise Perpignano completed the mural last Friday after months of work. It was ready just in time for community members to view and remember. Generations, young and old, welcomed it to the city with open arms.
Jodel Travis, who grew up in Helena, traveled from Missoula for the ceremony in honor of her father. Her father was a Scout Jumper in Missoula in the 1950s and was originally inspired to join by the smokejumpers from the Mann Gulch Fire.
“The Mann Gulch Fire is prominent in our history,” Travis said. “Sharing this history through art around the city is something we need more of. We always see the mountains off to the west in the north here and the Missouri. Newer generations, the young people, need to be constantly reminded this is what happened here, and it spawned some changes that you now benefit from. So yeah, I think it's important. And this is just one more thing to remind future generations that something really important happened. People lost their lives. That was tragic, but it benefited firefighting in years to come.”
KTVH News will air a special titled "Tragedy in the Wilderness: The Mann Gulch Fire" on Sunday, August 11, at 10 p.m.
