The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America

The town of Wallace, Idaho, spends the summer of 1910 observing the fire in the distance, astonished by its might, but now on this Saturday in August it is upon them. Wallace’s residents scramble as they prepare to evacuate, with only hours before the town burns. The town has burned before, 20 years ago. It was rebuilt in a style supposedly fireproof—a claim that will soon have its accuracy determined. Wallace’s mayor, Walter Hanson, sounds the evacuation alarm and begins shepherding residents to evacuation trains. Only women, children, and the elderly are allowed on the trains—men must stay and fight the fire to protect their town. A local force and troops attempt to enforce the order, but men fight their way onto the trains anyway, pushing off women and children. Carl Getz, a visitor from Seattle, states, “I have been in panics […] but the one at Wallace was the worst I have ever seen” (4).

Firefighting in this age mostly consists of running garden hoses over roofs, throwing buckets of water at flames, and shoveling dirt onto fires. That night, a large ember ignites the local newspaper building. Staff inside flee as the flames spread across every building in Wallace, including the railway depot designated for the evacuation.