10/28/2026
🔥 THE HISTORY OF MANTI–LA SAL NATIONAL FOREST — BURNOVERS & WILDFIRE FATALITIES 🔥
Remembering those we lost. Learning from those who survived.
🏔️ THE LANDSCAPE — WHERE TERRAIN, FUELS, AND WIND CHANGE THE FIRE
Manti–La Sal National Forest stretches from central Utah into southeastern Utah and western Colorado. Its separated landscapes include the Wasatch Plateau, La Sal Mountains, and the Abajo Mountains and surrounding mesas and canyons.
High plateaus give way to steep slopes, dissected drainages, sandstone cliffs, and rugged mountain terrain. These features influence wind movement, fire spread, visibility, access, and the time firefighters need to reach safety. (fs.usda.gov, fs.usda.gov, fs.usda.gov)
The documented incidents span very different fuels: pinyon-juniper woodland, oak brush, cottonwood-lined drainages, ponderosa pine, aspen, spruce, and subalpine fir—including beetle-killed timber. At Pack Creek, firefighters encountered unexpected fire activity in green riparian vegetation. At Deer Creek, winds interacting with drainages and intense heating helped produce extraordinary fire behavior. (lessonslearned-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com, lessonslearned-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com, umt.edu)
The operational lesson is to continually reassess how wind, slope, fuel condition, and preheating are changing together—and what those changes mean for the tactic and escape route.
📜 TWO FOREST HISTORIES — ONE LIVING RECORD
This research follows the original Manti and La Sal forests, including the former Monticello National Forest and the brief La Salle name used in 1908–1909. Manti and La Sal merged in 1949, with the combined name following in 1950. Older incidents may appear under a predecessor forest, ranger district, canyon, or nearby community. (forestservicemuseum.org, ppolinks.com, forestservicemuseum.org)
🌲 1934 — CRANDALL CANYON FIRE
CCC firefighters in the drought years
A Forest Service administrative history documents 100 men from Civilian Conservation Corps Company 959 helping suppress a large fire in Crandall Canyon during the summer of 1934.
The company occupied Gooseberry Camp F-28, also called Fairview Camp. This establishes an early firefighting chapter on the original Manti National Forest. Exact incident dates, acreage, and any associated injuries or entrapments remain unresolved. The records located do not establish a fatal burnover. (fs.usda.gov)
⚙️ APRIL 27, 2007 — PACK CREEK PRESCRIBED FIRE
Serious equipment-related injury
The NWCG annual Safety Gram records a federal National Park Service employee suffering amputation of the right ring finger after contact with a moving part during terra torch preparation on the Manti–La Sal National Forest near Moab.
This was a prescribed-fire operational injury, not a burnover. It belongs in the broader safety history because exposure begins before the first ignition. (fs-prod-nwcg.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com)
🔥 JULY 3, 2007 — JUNGLE PRESCRIBED-FIRE ESCAPE
Learning before another accident
The Jungle prescribed fire began June 28 on the Ferron Ranger District in mixed aspen and beetle-killed spruce and subalpine fir. On July 3, it escaped its planned boundaries, ultimately burning 549 acres outside the unit and threatening homes.
The subsequent review examined assumptions about fuel barriers, changing fire behavior, contingency resources, trigger points, and whether concerns were communicated and acted upon.
This is a documented prescribed-fire escape and organizational learning case; the evidence reviewed does not establish a firefighter burnover or fatality. (lessons.wildfire.gov, umt.edu)
🚁 JUNE 18, 2018 — TRAIL MOUNTAIN FIRE
Steep terrain, a Pulaski injury, and helicopter extraction
A firefighter lost footing on steep terrain and suffered a deep Pulaski wound to the thigh. A helicopter short-haul operation extracted the injured firefighter, avoiding a difficult and prolonged ground evacuation. (lessonslearned-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com)
Teton Interagency Helitack conducted the rescue, reported at the time as the Forest Service Emergency Medical Short-Haul program’s first operational medical evacuation. The firefighter was treated at a hospital and released that evening. (verticalmag.com)
🔥 JULY 1, 2018 — TRAIL MOUNTAIN FIRE
Hidden heat beneath the surface
In a separate incident, a contract firefighter stepped into a burning stump hole and received second-degree burns to an arm and calf.
Forest Service EMTs provided treatment before an air ambulance transported the firefighter to the University of Utah Hospital. He was treated and released the following day.
This was a confirmed ground-fuel burn injury—not a documented flame-front burnover. (lessons.fs2c.usda.gov)
🚒 JUNE 9, 2021 — PACK CREEK FIRE
Radiant heat damages an engine
During initial attack, increasing winds and spot fires forced resources to abandon their original anchor point. Later, stronger fire activity prompted the incident commander to stop suppression actions and shift resources to structure protection.
A BLM Type 3 engine sustained radiant-heat damage discovered during inspection the following morning.
The lessons included establishing command promptly, recognizing excessive workload, communicating safety and resource locations clearly, and anticipating dangerous fire activity in riparian fuels.
The official incident classification is vehicle burn damage; the report does not establish a shelter deployment. (lessonslearned-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com, lessons.wildfire.gov)
🚁 JULY 2023 — CEDAR KNOLL FIRE
Heat illness and rescue
Two firefighters suffering heat-related exertion and dehydration were evacuated by helicopter hoist from the Cedar Knoll Fire. Both spent a night in the hospital and were released.
This medical emergency illustrates how heat, workload, and difficult terrain can require rescue even without a burnover. (ksl.com)
🌪️ JULY 12, 2025 — DEER CREEK FIRE, LA SAL AREA
Crews retreat into the black as a pyro-vortex develops
The Deer Creek Rapid Lesson Sharing report documents two hotshot crews pulling into the hard black as fire activity increased. A Type 2 crew also remained in the black.
An engine took refuge at a previously assessed structure site as the vortex approached. The vortex passed over the engine while a nearby structure burned, and embers damaged the engine’s air-brake line. All personnel were accounted for and uninjured.
The report describes an EF2-rated pyro-vortex, with drainage winds, mountain-influenced winds, and intense convective heating contributing to the event. It also records severe visibility loss and heat exposure affecting crews in the black. (lessonslearned-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com)
This is included as a documented La Sal-area fire-behavior and survival case. The exact exposure site’s relationship to the National Forest boundary remains under verification. The report does not establish a fire-shelter deployment.
📚 WHAT THE RECORD CURRENTLY SUPPORTS
The sources verified so far have not established a firefighter wildfire fatality or shelter deployment specifically on Manti–La Sal National Forest.
That is a statement about the evidence located—not a declaration that none occurred. Early ranger records, CCC accounts, district manuscripts, and older accident files remain research priorities.
The absence of fatalities does not mean the absence of lessons.
🧭 LESSONS TO CARRY FORWARD
• Reassess fire behavior as winds, terrain, and fuels interact.
• Establish trigger points early enough to leave time to act.
• Maintain LCES as conditions and assignments change.
• Evaluate the black for residual heat, unburned fuel, snags, and exposure; burned ground is not automatically a safety zone.
• Plan medical evacuation before committing crews to difficult terrain.
• Establish command, maintain accountability, and make it safe for every firefighter to raise a concern.
🤝 HELP PRESERVE THIS HISTORY
If you have firsthand knowledge, photographs, crew records, or documentation of an unrecorded Manti, La Sal, Monticello, or Manti–La Sal incident, please share what you know.
Thank you to everyone helping preserve these experiences so future firefighters can learn from them.
🛡️ SAFETY MESSAGE — WILL SPYRISON
Watch the alignment of forces—wind, slope, and preheat. Time-tag your tactic, establish clear trigger points, and act before changing conditions take away your options. Keep LCES current and make sure your briefing gives every firefighter a clear understanding of the assignment, the hazards, and the way out.
This research is dedicated to Doug Campbell and the enduring lessons of the Campbell Prediction System.
May Doug Campbell rest in peace. His legacy lives on in the firefighters he taught—and in every decision shaped by his lessons.
— Will Spyrison
Retired Division Chief, Angeles National Forest
Living history • Updated October 26, 2026
