Ed Pulaski

[Steve Tall]

Forest Service hero and inventor of the Pulaski tool.

In 1910, Ed Pulaski's actions saved his firefighting crew while they were trapped in the largest wildfire in US history. Pulaski ordered his men into an abandoned mine tunnel, and attempted to keep the entrance blocked off with wet blankets while the inferno raged outside. Almost all the men survived the night, although Pulaski was badly injured. Blinded by the fire in one eye, with serious burns and damaged lungs, he received no assistance from the Forest Service toward his costs for hospitalization and subsequent medical care (other rangers passed the hat to help him out some). After weeks in the hospital, the ailing Pulaski returned to work because there was no sick pay and his family had no other source of income. On his own time, he tended the graves of those fallen during the fire, and kept trying to get a proper memorial, until eleven years after the fire Congress appropriated some funds to mark the graves. In the meantime, he experimented at his forge and created the famous Pulaski tool.
Source: The Big Burn, by Timothy Egan, Mariner Books, 2010

Above photo from a ceremony in 2005 (95 years after the fire) naming a trail in honor of Pulaski.
(Photo and story below from The Spokesman-Review, August 21, 2005)
http://m.spokesman.com/stories/2005/aug/21/trail-to-mine-honors-pulaski/

The original Pulaski tool:

Images courtesy of the Wallace District Mining Museum and the US Forest Service.
http://www.wallaceminingmuseum.org/Tour1/exhibit2/vexmain2.htm

 

[Square_peg]

Good post. Thanks, Steve.

 

[Alberta Ed]

Thanks for that, from all of us who grew a few callouses from Pulaski handles.

 

[Murphnuge]

Excellent post, thank you!

 

[Skimo]

Thanks for that, from all of us who grew a few callouses from Pulaski handles.

.....

 

[M3mphis]

Great post, Steve. "The Big Burn" still inspires fear and reverence over 100 years later. 3 million acres burned. Wikipedia has a quick read on it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_1910

 

[halfaxe]

Good Post. The Big Burn is a fascinating history not only about Pulaski and his heroism, but the large fire and the people, politics, and towns involved.

 

[bbforstr]

I live and work in N. Idaho. We're still dealing with the effects of the 1910 fire. Ed Pulaski was a man that was able to deal with a difficult situation. It's neat that people still remember him over 100 years after he made a name for himself. It's too bad the government didn't treat him the way he should have been treated.