The Great Fire of 1910 (The Big Burn)
Over roughly 36 hours in August 1910, hurricane-force winds merged hundreds of small fires into a single inferno that burned about 3 million acres across Idaho and Montana, an area the size of Connecticut. The Big Burn killed 87 people and set the young US Forest Service on a century-long path of total fire suppression.
Shaded circle = 3,000,000 acres burned
The shaded circle covers the same area as the fire’s recorded footprint, centered near its origin. Real perimeters were irregular and wind-driven.
Key facts
What happened
The Northern Rockies saw a bone-dry summer in 1910, with fires smoldering across the region by August. On August 20 a cold front brought winds later estimated at hurricane force, and the fires blew up into a firestorm that consumed entire valleys in hours. Smoke darkened skies as far away as New England, and soot reportedly reached Greenland.
Seventy-eight firefighters died, many from hastily recruited crews. Ranger Ed Pulaski famously saved most of his 45-man crew by forcing them at gunpoint into an abandoned mine tunnel as the fire passed over; the pulaski firefighting tool bears his name.
Why it matters
The 1910 fires nearly destroyed the five-year-old US Forest Service, then defined it. The agency's response was a doctrine of total suppression, later formalized as the 10 a.m. policy: control every fire by 10 a.m. the day after it starts. That century of fire exclusion built the fuel loads driving today's megafires, making the Big Burn a cautionary tale fire scientists still cite.
Frequently asked questions
How big was the Great Fire of 1910?
About 3 million acres burned across northern Idaho and western Montana, most of it in roughly 36 hours on August 20 and 21, 1910.
How did the 1910 fire change firefighting?
It pushed the US Forest Service into a policy of suppressing every fire as fast as possible. That policy lasted most of the 20th century and contributed to the fuel buildup behind today's largest fires.
Who was Ed Pulaski?
A Forest Service ranger who saved most of his crew by sheltering them in a mine tunnel during the blowup. The pulaski, the standard axe-hoe firefighting tool, is named for him.
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Sources
Facts checked against the sources above. Figures such as costs and death tolls follow the most widely accepted official counts.