Entry - August 31, 1936

8.00 The Heavens Peak fire busted loose again. They called out all of us from our camp and all from eight more camps so that we had about sixteen hundred men. This is August the 31st and we are in camp for two hours for our pay and right back out on the fire again. I have been seeing so many fires lately that I am sick of them and sometimes I think that I will go nuts being around them so much.

The fire has burnt over about eight miles of the parks beautiful scenery before we got it under control. It burnt up all the many glacier chalets and the museum and some of the beautiful bridle paths were burnt up.

We came back in the camp today on the thirty first of August.

Robert

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Comments from Chris

Obviously, the fire wasn't as contained as Robert though in his previous post. Typically a fire as hot as this is going to have coals that smolder for days and can easily catch again. 

Rolf Larson has an excellent story about this fire based on multiple first hand accounts. You can read it here - http://www.glacierparkfoundation.org/History/firestorm.html

Today is the day the Many Glacier Hotel almost burnt to the ground. The story is documented in Rolf's link. I've also included a map of the area below. Take a look at how the high winds took this fire from Heaven's Peak down in to the Swiftcurrent Valley.

Ten days in to the fire now.

Heaven's Peak
From Robert's CCC Photo Collection

Heaven's Peak and Many Glacier Hotel
Robert's 1936 Glacier National Park Map

Heaven's Peak on left. Swiftcurrent Pass at orange marker
Google Maps

Swiftcurrent Pass looking in to Swiftcurrent Valley
Google Maps