Hall, Dan (Interviewer)

Abstract

One of the first men selected in 1940 to train as a smokejumper, Earl Cooley describes the early years of the program, including the selection of men, the training, and the equipment. He also recalls being on the first fire jump for the smokejumper program, and fighting fires.

Abstract

One of the first men selected in 1940 to train as a smokejumper, Earl Cooley describes the early years of the program, including the selection of men, the training, and the equipment. He also recalls being on the first fire jump for the smokejumper program, and fighting fires.

Abstract Fred Rohrback discusses his time as a smokejumper for both the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from 1965 to 1973. He compares jumping for the different organizations, as well as the differences between working at bases across the western United States and in Alaska. Rohrback describes training at Missoula, Montana, fire jump procedures, and let downs from tree landings. He also comments on some of the changes in the smokejumper program, including the advent...

Abstract

Hal Samsel talks about his career as a smokejumper in Missoula, Montana, from 1949 to 1965 and as the rigging loft foreman from 1966 to 1980. He talks about the aftermath of the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire, the film Red Skies of Montana, and the changes to the smokejumper organization brought on by the civil rights movement.