Events mark 1910 fires

COEUR d'ALENE - Events remembering the 100th anniversary of the Great Fires of 1910, and the sacrifices of the firefighters and communities affected by the fires are scheduled today and Saturday.

Activities in St. Maries and Wallace will remember the weekend of the "Big Blowup" in 1910 when southwest winds whipped up numerous fires burning in Idaho and Montana creating a firestorm of more than 3 million acres in just two days.

The fires killed 85 firefighters and burned numerous small towns including a third of Wallace.

Today, the Forest Service and the community of St. Maries will rededicate the grave site of 54 firefighters who lost their lives in the Big Blowup.

The ceremony will take place at Woodlawn Cemetery and will include a procession led by bagpipes and an honor guard, local Boy Scouts, wildland firefighters, and the Ninemile Pack String with remarks from state and local elected officials, U.S. Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management Director Tom Harbour, and author and historian Dr. Stephen Pyne.

The rededication ceremony will begin at 3:30 p.m. The U.S. Forest Service and the St. Maries community will also sponsor a No Host Community Dinner served at the Nazarene Church, Friday night at 6:30 p.m.

The keynote speaker is Bob Mutch, a national and international leader in fire management.

His talk will be followed by a performance by the Fiddling Foresters.

On Saturday, there will be a ceremony dedicating a new monument to the firefighters who lost their lives in the Great Fires of 1910.

It includes a memorial procession of fire trucks, firefighters, and an honor guard through the community of Wallace ending at the Wallace Visitor's Center.

Following the procession a dedication ceremony will take place at the visitor's center.

The procession will begin on the east side of Wallace near Exit 62 of Interstate 90 at 11 a.m.

The dedication ceremony will begin at the Visitor's Center at 12:30 p.m. followed by a water drop from an air tanker on the hillsides above Wallace at 2 p.m.

The events are free to the public.