Posted by Sherman in Idaho [72.47.153.158] on Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at 18:48:09 :
In Reply to: Re: Road Closed by Tribe? posted by Kaegi [76.22.23.236] on Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at 15:50:46 :
I remember as a boy being in the Circle T Ranch Cafe in Enterprise Oregon when the big Hells Canyon fire was burning. It was a busy restaurant where it seemed all the ranchers who had to go to town for some reason ate breakfast. The Sheriff came in and announced that he was basically drafting everyone in the place to go to the fire line. I doubt he had the legal authority to force anyone, but he was probably respected enough that when he told men it was serious they believed him.
Of course nowadays they'd never allow that -- after several tragedies, anyone who wants to work on a fire crew now has to have gone through lots of training -- but I'm sure every rancher and farm hand in the county knew how to operate an axe and a shovel, especially back then (1968?). Our family was just there to camp and fish, and I have a vague sense my father skedaddled out of there before he got tapped on the shoulder personally, but I definitely remember the scene in that cafe, along with the woods that smelled like turpentine, the smoke in the air, and the dry lightning every afternoon.
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