1910 fire on exhibit at Coeur d'Alene library

The impact of the fires that swept through the region in 1910 is depicted in a new photo exhibit at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave.

The photos are reprints from images taken in the days following great fires of Aug. 20-21, 1910, that blackened about 3 million acres of forest, killed 85 people - mostly firefighters - and burned a major portion Wallace as well as completely destroying other towns in North Idaho and Montana.

The images are courtesy of the U.S. Forest Services Region 1 Archives and were printed and mounted through a grant from the Friends of the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.

The exhibit, in the main library area on the upper level, is the first of a series of activities at the library marking the centennial of the great fire. In August the library will host a new movie about the fires - in partnership with the Museum of North Idaho - an author presentation and a tour of Forest Cemetery that will include a Forest Service historian.

The local cemetery contains the grave of Forest Ranger Edward Pulaski, a hero of the 1910 fires. The tour will be done in partnership with the Coeur d'Alene Parks Department.

Among the exhibits at the Museum of North Idaho this summer is "History on Fire," that also examines the great blaze of 1910.