Readers’ recollections of 1981’s Cow Mountain Fire
In response to an Aug. 14 “This Was News” column about the 1981 Cow Mountain Fire that burned more than 25,000 acres, destroyed homes and took out local television service, two readers wrote to share how the arson fire affected them and their families. Their emails are reprinted below.
The view from Mill Creek dam
Reader Charline Hawksworth, who witnessed the beginning of the fire in Mill Creek Canyon, responded with the following information:
“First, I want to thank you for publishing this story. A couple of years ago I was unable to find information about it. I kept looking for a ‘Mill Creek Fire’ as that was where I saw it start. Unable to locate such a name, I thought maybe they weren’t naming fires at that time. Now I know.
“At that time I often took my children swimming at Mill Creek dam. A couple of years ago, I drove up and looked at it and must say I certainly wouldn’t go swimming there now. Oh well, that’s a different subject.
“The day that fire started we had been swimming, then went for a bit of a jog/walk on a trail that was across from the dam area where we swam. About 20-30 minutes after we returned to our swim, I saw some folks that appeared to be teenagers on that path. They seemed to be having fun and I was happy other people were enjoying the trail. That was a short-lived feeling because they were no sooner out of sight (lots of tall weeds/brush there) than in the area they had just left, I observed, poof! poof! poof! Yes; three good spots of fire on the trail. I thought, ‘Oh well, the fire department will come put out those little fires right away.’ This was because of my ignorance of how fast a fire can move. Of course, the fires took off up the hill immediately.
“When I saw how large they were so fast, I was afraid to leave for fear of blocking fire equipment that would be coming up the one-lane road. Therefore, we remained in the water which seemed safest, especially since the fire was moving away from us. We remained there until a fireman came and told us to get out of there. Of course, we did so immediately. Sure ’nuff, partway down the hill, I had to back up the road and into a wide spot to allow a truck carrying equipment to pass.
“This occurrence certainly educated me as to how quickly and how devastating a fire can become. I also think of it every time I read of so many fires one after another in our area. I didn’t have a TV at the time, so didn’t know about that effect.
“Again, thank you for writing about this. I had wondered whether or not it was known that it was arson-caused, and now I know. Sincerely, Charline”
Another response
Reader Jane Lambert, who lost her home in the fire and now lives in Montana, responded with the following information:
“My sister, Judy Hendricks, sent me a copy of the article you wrote. My home burned up in that fire and my sister lost most of her stuff, too, so we had firsthand experience with that fire.
“What does not come through in your article is that the main problem with that fire was NOT arson, but complete mismanagement of the BLM ground which completely burned up. Back in the 1960s, my father, Jerry Hendricks, did his damndest to educate both the Forest Service and BLM about the advantages of using control burning in the brush country, both to control wildfires and also to improve deer habitat and feed. He had the data and pictures and proof that what he was saying was true, economical, and doable. For centuries Native Americans had also proved the value of this by setting small fires every year, so that there was always a mosaic of small burns in place, which kept the fuel loads down so that major catastrophic fires didn’t occur.
“Did the federal agencies learn anything from my father? No — they poopooed him, and continued on with their ‘Smoky the Bear’ philosophy of no burning what-so-ever. Fast forward to 1981. There was a massive brush build up from Ukiah to Lakeport. When the kids played with matches on August 8, the Feds had created the perfect recipe for disaster. BUT, did anybody learn anything from the fires of 1981? No, we had more fire suppression, and a set up for losing Middletown, Lower Lake, Cobb Mountain, etc. Brush is MEANT
TO BURN. It is how it regenerates itself. It is going to burn either by the hand of man in small doses, or it is going to be a holocaust fire by the hand of Mother Nature.
“You people living in the brush country of Mendocino and Lake Counties had better wake up and smell the roses, or you are going to be continually choked by wildfire smoke for the foreseeable future. A few boxes of matches used judiciously every fall will cut down the fuel loads, and make any future fires smaller, and more controllable. Put some pressure on the Feds to make this happen, or expect more of the same! —Janie Hendricks Lambert”