Today's fire raging near Sedona, Arizona,  reminds us that such challenges are difficult to face. No matter how prepared you are, fires burning out of control can destroy even the best defenses. They are, after all, WILD fires.

Steve Greenwood, our Curator at the Wells Fargo History Exhibit in Portland, Oregon, recounts the major damage caused by a huge wildfire in Washington state a hundred years ago. If you have any first-hand accounts of your experiences with fires in recent years, write 'em here. (CR)

Part One

"The fire surged, hissed, and roared, leaping like an untamed demon dancing," described one contemporary of Washington State’s largest wildfire—the Yacolt Burn of 1902. On September 11 that year, this destructive wildfire started and decimated the area between the Columbia River and Mount St. Helens, traveling 30 miles in 36 hours. At one point, the fire was 12 miles wide!

Moist, cool air normally flows from the ocean and brings rain to the area, but the wind had reversed direction and brought a hot and dry east wind—known as the Devil Wind. Temperature played a pivotal role also: the thermometer topped off at 97 degrees in Portland that day. The wildfire that followed was so intense that the U.S. Army dispatched troops to protect property, and regional businesses halted shipping along the Columbia River. To the north 180 miles, the Yacolt Burn covered Seattle with cinders a half-inch thick.

This "awful forest conflagration" disabled telegraph lines and destroyed schools, churches, and logging camps.

Autumn rain finally extinguished the flames on September 13. When it ended, the devastating fire had claimed 38 lives, left 146 families homeless, and burned over 238,000 acres.