Fires I have known

Army tent stove diagram: Hypothermia is most common with the temperatures in the 30's and high humidity, a very common weather report for Game Creek. Fire was our only source of warmth and many of us started with light steel army tent stoves. As a non-profit group we were able to buy a number of them for about a dollar apiece from government surplus. Not only were they affordable, they were easy to transport. A primitive stove meant to heat a canvas tent, it was only 18" high and 18" in diameter. Our two main types of firewood were Sitka Spruce and Western Hemlock, both clinging to the bottom of any list of heating values. To further decrease the effective heating value of the wood, we logged the trees down the bay, organized the logs into large rafts, and then stored them on the mud flats where they were immersed in salt water twice a day and rinsed by the ever-present rain. To counteract all of this moisture, we cut the firewood to about 8" blocks and then split it down into pieces that would fit through the small opening on the top of the tent stove. Best results were obtained by storing the split firewood in racks in the rafters for several days before you had to use them. In a pinch it was common to pre-heat the wood directly on top of the stove in an effort to drive out a little of the water. Finding warm coals remaining from a carefully packed load of firewood was a bright spot as we tried to rekindle the stove for the coming day.

As time passed and our surroundings became a bit more civilized, the preferred heat source was a Mama Bear model of the steel Fisher stove. Although they cost several hundred dollars and weighed about 180 pounds before you added the fire bricks, they were a wonderful source of heat, handling logs up to 18 inches long and about 7 inches in diameter. Obviously, they were much easier to set up to burn all night long.

There was still a problem with the heating systems. With the logs soaking in salt water every day, the smoke and soot sent up the chimney was extremely corrosive. Regular blue steel stove pipe would be eaten paper-thin in about a month. The solution was stainless steel stove pipe. Much more expensive, but it would last several months. It also looked neat! Chimney fires were common, and would give a blast of heat to the cabin as the pipe glowed red hot.

Note the shiny stainless steel stove pipe and the rescued rocking chair.

Oh yes, chimney fires could be a problem. This picture from the 1978 Alaska magazine supplement was taken where we were reconstructing the building lost to a major fire on that site. I was just completing renovations to our new apartment in the cabin in the background, and had already moved some of our items into the new space in anticipation of more room. Tim was helping me with the carpentry when someone yelled and we looked out the window to see smoke pouring out of the cabin we had been living in. Tim and I ran over to the wooden building, grabbed a 32-gallon barrel of water and carried it up the far side stairway to the second floor apartment where the smoke was most noticeable. As we opened the door a terrified cat burst out into the fresh air, but the smoke and fire were too intense to allow us to do anything there. Fortunately no one was in that apartment at the time. We alerted all others in the building to get out and then I proceeded up to our small room with the two bunk beds, and started throwing our limited belongings out the small window at the end of the building. Marge was busy picking them up after they landed on the soft muskeg, then bringing them to safety. I was able to make a number of trips to the window and as the smoke got heavier, I would breathe at the window and then venture back to rescue more items, holding my breath. As the fire continued, there was a background noise of people talking and yelling, which suddenly intensified to a level I couldn't ignore. I went to the front window to see what was the cause and as I put my head out, I saw flames shooting from under the roofing right by me. Making a quick executive decision, I went straight out that window onto the porch roof and jumped to safety. Anything left could not be that valuable! After the building was reduced to a smoldering layer of ashes, we found that much of our stuff had been saved, although many of our prized neoprene boots now came in single-boot selections. A treasured rocking chair had also been rescued from the downstairs meeting area.

The final tally showed we all lost some items but nobody was hurt. The loss of housing for four families caused further crowding in the remaining buildings but thanks to sharing spaces, we all had a roof over our heads. As for us, we immediately moved into the new space even if it wasn't complete. The fire was caused when one of the girls in the lower left apartment was running their wood stove full blast to heat an antique iron to smooth out some clothes. The red-hot chimney had ignited the wood up in the apartment above. Fortunately it happened at high tide, so we were able to do a bucket brigade to try to stop the fire. However, the reality is we were as effective as a mosquito trying to stop a sledge hammer. Once a wood dwelling caught fire, there was no way to stop it under those conditions. Unfortunately, all of our buildings were wood...

Several years later in the middle of the night we were awakened by a noise and bright light, only to find that the laundry house was on fire! Once again we were powerless to stop it from completely eliminating this valuable facility. I had spent months constructing this building through the winter so our women could do their laundry in livable conditions. When we first arrived at Game Creek, Marge had to chip the ice out of the #3 galvanized tub, heat the water on a wood stove, and then wash our clothes using a Yukon plunger, a hand-powered agitating system. Clothes would then be passed through a hand wringer and then hung artistically from the rafters to dry. You can see that we had incentive to wear our clothes for a bit longer than we would have in a more civilized setting. We would miss the electric wringer machines, the indoor drying areas, and the large stove to heat the wash water provided by the laundry house. This time the stove pipe was not the villain. The night watchman had grown frustrated with the wet wood and used Blazo lantern fuel to get the fire going. Another quick lesson in how not to get a fire going.

When we visited Game Creek twenty years later, we were relaxing in one of the cabins when a call came over the radio that there was a fire in the tabernacle. We ran over to do what we could, and were relieved to find it was only some smoke from the main stove. What a thoughtful reminder of previous times!

Here's a picture of a Yukon plunger as it would look fresh from the Aubuchon Hardware store in Juneau.

Final note: when the first cabin burned to the ground, we had no fire insurance to recover the loss. As word spread, friends from all over the world reached into their own pockets and sent gifts that allowed each of us involved to replace the critical lost items. Thanks to all of those people who gave so generously to help us rebuild.