***Facilitators Field Reference***

***for the***

***Rock Creek Fire Staff Ride***

JUNE 2004

**STAFF RIDE DIFFICULTY RATING:**

[Physical]{.underline}

Moderate -- All walking segments are on rolling terrain with good
footing. Elevation for the area is approximately 5000 feet.

[Logistics]{.underline}

Easy -- Adjacent to a major paved highway. Site is less than one-hour
drive from Winnemucca, Nevada. High clearance two wheel drive vehicles
can be driven to three of the four stands. Road to Stand 2 crosses over
private property, check for permission.

[Hazards]{.underline}

Low -- Normal wildland hazards (possible snakes, bees, etc.)

NOTE TO FACILITATORS: THIS IS A SUGGESTED FORMAT. DO NOT FEEL LIMITED BY
THE INDENTIFIED STANDS OR DISCUSSION ITEMS. IT IS PROVIDED AS A WORD
DOCUMENT SO THAT USERS MAY ADAPT AND REVISE IT TO FIT THEIR SPECIFIC
AUDIENCE AND TIME DEMANDS.

**Stand 1 - Memorial Monument Rest Area**

[Maps]{.underline}

Travel Map

Orthophoto with final fire perimeter GPS locations for Stands

[Access]{.underline}

**NAD 83 GPS Coordinates 41.32.548 x 117.47.174**

From Winnemucca, Nevada take Highway 95 north toward Orovada.

Just after Mile Post 41 turn right into Rest Area.

The Memorial Monument is located in the center of the Rest Area.

\*\*This location can provide a place to park extra vehicles\*\*

[Terrain Orientation]{.underline}

Rock Creek Fire Memorial Monument

Sawtooth Mountain

Rock Creek

Antelope Creek & Antelope Creek Road

Drainage immediately south of Rock Creek

Point of Origin

[Events to Describe]{.underline}

Weather and fuels conditions in 1939 (Refer to Appendix A)

Overview of the Civilian Conservation Corps program

Initial attack actions by local civilians

[Discussion Guide]{.underline}

-   The Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) crews of the 1930's were formed
    under Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal in the hopes of relieving
    unemployment by providing conservation work across the nation. The
    CCC was run by the War Department and fire suppression command,
    control and organization was modeled after the military.

-   Each camp had a camp commander, an assistant commander, a
    lieutenant, a doctor and an education advisor. All were Army
    personnel. Fire crews were trained and supervised by specific
    government agencies.

Each camp was assigned a fleet of trucks, tractors and basic fire tools.

-   Crews were generally consisted of 20-25 people. The crews attended a
    two-week basic training session that included a short section on
    firefighting.

-   The crewmembers salaries were \$30 a month. They were allowed to
    keep \$5 for personal expenses while the other \$25 was sent back
    home to support families. CCC clothing was World War I Army surplus.

-   The Department of Grazing mentioned in several documents was the
    forerunner of the Bureau of Land Management.

-   Rock Creek Fire background - the fire was started by lightning and
    first reported by local storeowner, Kirk Studebaker. In the initial
    dispatch information given to the CCC camp was the recommendation
    that the crew stop by Studebaker's store in Orovada for local road
    directions into the fire. Mr. Studebaker and 5 other local residents
    drove up very near the fire and were the initial attack forces on
    the fire. Note the map references to Studebaker's car.

[]{.mark}

**Handout TDGS #1 prior to leaving Stand 1**

Tell students to have their solutions ready when they arrive at Stand 2.

**Stand 2 - CCC Crew Parking Area**

[Maps]{.underline}

Orthophoto with final fire perimeter and GPS locations for Stands

[Access]{.underline}

**NAD 83 GPS Coordinates 41.33.399 x 117.45.234**

From Memorial Monument Rest Area (Stand 1) drive North on Highway 95 to
Orovada (1/2 mile).

As you travel through town make the immediate right just past the Nevada
Division of Transportation Maintenance yard.

Follow this road 1/4 mile and turn right onto the dirt road.

Follow the dirt road 1.5 miles to CCC Crew parking area.

[Terrain Orientation]{.underline}

Gabica Ranch

Rock Creek

Area the CCC crew's truck was parked

Saddle on the south side of Rock Creek

McConnell Trail

Frank J. Vitale fatality site

[Events to describe]{.underline}

Communication of the dispatch to Paradise Valley Camp

Extended attack response by CCC Crews

[Discussion Topics]{.underline}

**Conduct Tactical Decision Game #1**

-   The CCC crew did not receive a message to stop at the store in
    Orovada to get directions to the fire. Without knowing about the
    access route up Antelope Creek suggested by Mr Studebaker, the crew
    proceeded through Orovada, past Gabica ranch to the end of the road
    near Rock Creek. This route required more time to get to the fire.

-   Foreman Timmons had only fought eleven fires prior to this
    assignment. However, he had been on a fire in Rock Creek the year
    before.

-   Foreman Timmons decided to split the crew and attack the fire from
    two sides. He would take one crew up the north ridge while Squad
    Boss Tippin's crew would traverse to the bottom of the fire. Why?

-   Radios were not in use on the fireline in 1939. Only direct verbal
    communications, message runners, hand signals, and whistles were
    used.

-   Route of travel by Squad Boss Tippin's crew was up McConnel Trail
    heading to the bottom of the fire from the west. Their approach was
    from the downhill side with the wind at their backs.

**Handout TDGS #2 prior to leaving Stand 2**

Tell students to have their solutions when they arrive at Stand 3.

**Stand 3 - The Pep Talk**

[Maps]{.underline}

Topo Map with fire progression and Stand locations

[Access]{.underline}

**NAD 83 GPS Coordinates 41.33.016 x 117.44.100**

From Rock Creek CCC Crew Parking Area (Stand 2) drive back to the
Memorial Monument Rest Area ½ mile south of Orovada on Highway 95.

At the north end of the Rest Area you will see a cattle guard, drive
east through the cattle guard (This road is known as Antelope Creek
Road).

Follow Antelope Creek Road 2.7 miles to a second cattle guard.

Immediately after this cattle guard turn left and travel north up the
hill for 0.3 miles.

\*\*2WD vehicles with high clearance OK on Antelope Creek Road\*\*\*

[Terrain Orientation]{.underline}

Rock Creek

Antelope Creek and tributaries

Point of Origin

Site of three fatalities at drainage convergance

[Events to Describe]{.underline}

The hike in by Tippin's crew

Tippin's briefing known as the "Pep Talk"

Actions of civilians on the fire

Thunderstorm development

[Discussion Topics]{.underline}

**Conduct Tactical Decision Game #2**

-   Who was at the Pep Talk - Some of the squad members were still
    making their way up the hill when Tippin started his briefing.

-   Location of Foreman Timmon's crew - Outside the realm of
    communication and still working their way up the north ridge toward
    the top of the fire.

-   Change in weather and fire behavior - Thunderstorm building overhead
    with fire making moderate runs uphill. Then the winds increase and
    shift out of the east pushing the fire rapidly downhill.

    -   What would enable a thunderstorm to maintain the downdrafts to
        push the fire downhill for such a long duration?

-   Escape route down the down the drainage:

    -   Why go down the drainage?

    -   What other escape and safety options existed?

-   Command and control concerns during a hasty retreat from the fire:

    -   Insubordination?

    -   Indecisiveness?

    -   Panic?

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-   Escape of Studebaker, Gabica, and 4 others out of Antelope Creek.

**Handout TDGS #3 prior to leaving Stand 3**

Tell students to have their solutions when they arrive at Stand 4.

**Stand #4 - Fatality Site**

[Maps]{.underline}

Topo Map with fire progression and Stand locations

Investigation Report Map with firefighter retreat routes

[Access]{.underline}

**NAD 83 GPS Coordinates 41.33.081 x 117.44.685**

From Stand 3 hike down the drainage along Tippen's escape route to the
fatality site at the drainage convergence and then return to the
vehicles parked near Stand 3.

Optional: After the discussion at the convergence fatality site hike up
to the saddle immediately to the North for the close out session at the
saddle. After the close out session, hike down Rock Creek to Stand 2
where the vehicles will be parked.

\*\*This will require a vehicle shuttle from Stand 3 to Stand 2\*\*

\*\*Good footwear and water are required for this portion of staff
ride\*\*

[Terrain Orientation]{.underline}

Saddle between Rock Creek and Fatality Site

McConnell Trail

Location of the crew truck parking area (Stand 2)

Point of Origin

Pep Talk area

[Events to Describe]{.underline}

Kennedy's broken ankle and call for help

Conditions and situation in the gully and convergence area

Retreat of the crew

[Discussion Topics]{.underline}

**Conduct TDGS #3**

-   Deceptive terrain and long escape routes slowed the rate of movement
    of the firefighters and affected their escape time.

-   Deciding factors for survival:

    -   Tippin and James help Kennedy for a while, abandon him and help
        Barker according to Richard Power's witness statement.

    -   Vitale travels a long distance in a different direction from
        others.

    -   Powers and 5 others make it out.

-   Organizational changes:

    -   Establishment of first Forest Service Regional Readiness
        Standards

    -   Establishment of first mandatory fire training program for crews

    -   Identified the need for a qualification and experience tracking
        system

    -   Identified the need to insure a high physical fitness level for
        firefighters

    -   Recognition that sagebrush fires could be dangerous

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-   Earnest Tippin and Walter James were both posthumously awarded a
    National Certificate of Valor:

    -   What makes a wildland firefighter a hero?

    -   How well do we recognize our heroes in the wildland fire
        service?

**Conduct TDGS #4**

After conducting TDGS #3, allow time for students to explore the area
and then conduct TDGS#4 at Stand 4 or in the saddle to the north on the
way back to the vehicles if the optional shuttle is completed.

**APPENDIX A**

[Fire History and Ecology of the Rock Creek Area in 1939]{.underline}

The west side of the Santa Rosa Mountain Range has undergone an
extensive vegetative change since the time of the Rock Creek Fire in
1939. Fire played a much different role in the northern Nevada
sagebrush-grass ecosystem them, with lightning being the primary
ignition source. Human caused fires were present, with many being set in
the fall by sheepherders to maintain new forb growth and perennial grass
stands in the canyons and basins of Humbolt County.

The Civilian Conservation Corps, with its camps and spike camps, were
charged with fire suppression on the U.S. Forest Service reserves and
Division of Grazing (the predecessor to the Bureau of Land Management)
districts. The Toiyabe National Forest had jurisdiction for the Santa
Rosa Ranger District at the time. Early records state the area was
grazed by cattle and sheep extensively during the first third of the
Twentieth Century. There were more sheep than people in Humbolt County.

Early records from diaries and newspaper accounts describe an abundance
of sagebrush that was "big." It is thought that prior to the 1860's that
most of northern Nevada's vegetative communities were in climax
condition. Mining, grazing, and other human activities began to change
that. The "big" sagebrush was used extensively for as fuel for towns,
mines, and mills in the 1870's and 1880's. There is little evidence from
early explorers and pioneers that large fires were common in the
northern Nevada landscape due to their accounts of "vast tracts" of
unbroken sagebrush. It is thought that fire was not the key factor in
shaping of the sage-grass ecosystem prior to large-scale intervention by
man. The first newspaper mention of a wildfire in sagebrush comes from
the July 31, 1885 issue of the Winnemucca "Silver State."

As the larger sagebrush was removed from the landscape, grasses, forbs,
and other shrubs began to replace the old age sage stands, increasing
the "flammability" of the ecosystem. By the late 1890's rangeland fires
were becoming commonplace as the vegetation was altered. The livestock
industry was well-established and had replaced mining as the primary
industry in the area. Most operators grazed on open range year-round,
and did no supplement feed with hay in this area. It was necessary to
keep big sagebrush stands intact in order for cattle to survive the
winters. During the severe winter of 1889-1890, many of the ranchers saw
the need to plant alfalfa and the importance of the sagebrush community
diminished. As uncontrolled grazing began to be regulated in the 1930's
and cheatgrass was introduced on the rangelands, the stage began to be
set for the July 1939 incident.

Humbolt County and the Orovada area had experienced several active fire
seasons prior to 1939. The 1928 season saw severe fires in the Pine
Forest Range (which burned 2,200 head of sheep) and the Kings River
Valley. 1934 and 1938 saw fires that were of a magnitude not seen
before. The August 8, 1938 Rock Creek Fire is referred to in the 1939
coroner's inquest as the fire scar that the CCC crews were attempting to
tie into during the 1939 Rock Creek Fire.

Fuels on the south side of Rock Creek below the 1939 point of origin
were described as being similar to the early sagebrush sites, with the
brush being six to seven feet tall and in continuous stands. Perennial
grasses were present as an understory. It is reported by the residents
of the area at the time that the cheatgrass was just making a presence
in the Orovada country, but nowhere near the abundance that is seen
today. It would be difficult to say that the annual grasses played a
significant role in the rapid rate of spread seen on the 1939 Rock Creek
Fire. It can be reasoned that fuel loadings in the fire area approached
three tons per acre of big sage, perennial grass species, forbs, and
cheatgrass. There are two remnant islands of sagebrush-grass within the
1939 Rock Creek Fire perimeter which have not burned in subsequent years
that give us an accurate picture of what the CCC crews were dealing
with. Locals at the time state that the area had not burned for many
years previous, so it can be assumed that there were considerable litter
and dead components in the fuel composition. This combined with the
reported very strong, erratic winds were a critical factor in the events
on the afternoon of July 12, 1939.