Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Remembering ?The Fire?


By PAT MURPHY

It's human nature for those who've experienced epochal events to remember them vividly with pride or pain, sometimes a blend of both.

Years later, especially as grandparents, people recount in extraordinary detail their memories of a war, a catastrophic natural disaster, a horrific accident, witnessing a headline-making crime, an encounter with a celebrity, a sports event that set records.

To this day, my childhood memories of Florida hurricanes are indelible, as are images and experiences of World War II daily life as a teen—food and gasoline rationing, a backyard Victory garden, blackouts, torpedo attacks on shipping off the Florida coast, collecting scrap metal and rubber for the war effort, the sight of servicemen and women and foreign soldiers and seamen on Miami streets.

So, until their last days, Wood River Valley residents here during the Castle Rock fire will tell and retell what they saw, what they did, what they felt, their fears if any, how the town changed with evacuations, military checkpoints they had to clear, the incessant and reassuring sight and sound of helicopters and aircraft skimming over tree tops bombing the blaze with retardants, the veil of smoke that hung over the valley for days, firefighting vehicles and their crews from all over the U.S. rushed here to protect us.

Beyond personal memories, however, our community needs to memorialize the fire and men and women who fought to subdue it, plus hundreds of supporting emergency services and civic volunteers that kept every structure and every family safe from flames.

T-shirts will do for awhile. Maybe photo postcards will come along to capture the drama.

But more is needed to preserve memories that the Castle Rock fire and fearless firefighters who faced the flames. This was an important part of our history, one that matured our thinking about the frailty of humans and nature when confronted by a wildfire.

In a town noted for creativity, surely gifted artists will paint impressions of the fire. And maybe the ski and heritage museum will collect memorabilia for permanent display -- photos of the flames threatening Baldy as the mountain's snowmaking cannons rain water on the slopes; T-shirts, maps of the fire lines, etc.

And perhaps the Sun Valley Company will name a Baldy ski run in tribute, something like "Firefighters."

But what better permanent tribute than a statue commemorating firefighters in battle, erected in a public place as a perpetual reminder of this unforgettable event.

Statuary is an expression after major wars. Firefighters will confirm the Castle Rock blaze was like fighting a war.




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