Smokejumpers.com :. Higgins Ridge

Higgins Ridge

At 11:00 A.M., August 4th, 1961, 12 Missoula smokejumpers departed in a twin-engine Douglas DC-2 for the Higgins Ridge Fire in the Nez Perce Forest, about seven miles northeast of the Moose Creek Ranger Station, where eight Grangeville jumpers had been dropped earlier. Fred "Fritz" Wolfrum was in charge of the Missoula jumpers.

During the first part of August of that year dry winds had been blowing across much of the western and northwestern parts of the nation. A southerly flow of air from a cold front was responsible for the winds and fire activity. Many fires were started by lightning, and one such blaze was on Higgins Ridge.

When Fritz and his men arrived on the fire at 1:00 P.M., the fire was about two acres in size. By 2:30 P.M. strong winds swept through the area and Fritz knew they would not be able to control the fire. At 4:15 P.M. the fire took off with violent force, burning upslope. Suddenly, it made a complete reversal and began burning north towards the location where the fire had originally started. Dave Parry, squad leader for the Grangeville jumpers, was working with his men on the east side of the fire along a rocky ridge, trying to keep the blaze from circling behind them.

Tom Kovalicky, later Supervisor for the Nez Perce Forest, was with Fritz's crew. He later said he had been detailed to check the situation behind the Missoula jumpers. Tom stated; "The fire suddenly exploded like a blowtorch," and he ran through the flames to report to Fritz, who kept very calm as he led the Missoula jumpers to an old burned area as the winds increased to 50 mph. The jumpers were instructed to clear areas for themselves in the ashes. Several 5-gallon water cans were on hand and some of the men tore up their T-shirts, soaked the remnants, and placed them around their heads. The jumpers were wearing the new orange-colored fire retardant shirts, except for Fritz, who had been dispatched to the fire at the last moment and did not have time to pick one up before boarding the aircraft.

Five of the Grangeville smokejumpers who had been working below the Missoula crew and to the east had retreated to a rock slide. A huge cumulo-nimbus cloud had formed overhead from the heat and winds of the fire and lightning was coming down into the area. The men got down on the ground and kept swatting burning embers off one another. The 20 jumpers were now completely surrounded by swirling flames. Fritz said not a man panicked. The wind was still gusting to 40 mph.

Tom said he saw something above him in the smoke and thought a tree was falling on them. Fritz saw the object also, and suddenly the men found themselves staring at the skids of a helicopter. They had not heard the engine because of the roar of the fire. The pilot was Rod Snider from the Johnson Flying Service of Missoula. From overhead he had spotted the orange- colored shirts through the conflagration.

Fritz and Rod quickly organized an evacuation plan as the fire continued to move closer to them. Rod had to drop down and take off vertically because of old snags surrounding the jumpers. On the first several trips two jumpers rode in the cabin, but with the area getting hotter and the helicopter becoming more difficult to control, Rod took four out on each trip, with two in the cabin and two hanging on to the skids. He was able to ferry all 20 jumpers to the Freeman Ridge fire camp before the fire completely engulfed the location. Fritz and Tom were among those on the last flight out.

The next day the jumpers were flown by helicopter to the end of a dirt road at Elk Summit in the Clearwater National Forest, east of Powell Ranger Station, where they boarded a stakebody truck and were driven to Missoula. Some of the men were treated at St. Patrick Hospital for smoke-burned eyes. Within several days most of the smokejumpers who had been on the Higgins Ridge Fire were parachuting to new blazes. It was a very critical fire season.

Fritz later said that after the fire had cooled, the area was checked and all that was found were several parachute buckles. He himself lost a $400.00 camera.

For his actions, Rod Snider was awarded the North American Forest Service Medal, which is presented for outstanding heroism. And then there was another day. The Missoula Sentinel on January 18, 1962, made these comments: "A Missoula helicopter pilot, who snatched from death 20 fire fighters trapped on Higgins Ridge in Idaho last August, is to get National recognition for his achievement...He will receive the Stanley-Hiller Jr. Pilot of the Year Award at the 14th Annual Meeting of the Helicopter Association of America at ceremonies in Dallas, Texas Tues., Jan. 23rd. The paper went on to mention that the pilot was Rod Snider of the local Johnson Flying Service.

Today, Rod lives at Boise, Idaho. Fritz resides 17 miles south of Spokane, Washington at Spangle and Tom is "headquartered" at Grangeville, Idaho. He is one of the Directors for the National Smokejumper Association.

In the book Memorable Forest Fires, 200 Stories by U.S. Forest Service Retirees by HiStory ink Books of Hat Creek California, 1995, there is an article on pages 227-229 with the title, "TOM KOVALICKY, High Drama at Higgins Ridge (as told to Jack Demmons)". This was written for the book after the story had appeared in The Static Line, the quarterly publication of the National Smokejumper Association and Tom had credited the N.S.A. Historian for the original story.