1938 — Oct 19, Forest Fire (arson), Pepper Hill, near Sinnemahoning, Cameron Co., PA– 8
— 8 Gabbert, B. Infamous Wildland Fires around the World by Calendar Date (web). 7-2-2013.
— 8 PA Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources. “Pepper Hill Fire Story.” Accessed 2016.
Narrative Information
Gabbert: “Date: 19 October 1938
“Name: Pepper Hill (or Pepper Run)
“ Location: Lick Island, Pennsylvania
“Web link: http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacamero/CCC/ccchist.htm
“Brief Description: On October 19, 1938, a fire burned Pepper Hill by Lick Island Penn., (close to Sinnemahoning). Eight CCC workers from Camp Cameron 8-132 died. The fire, known as the “Pepper Hill Fire,” started the morning of October 19 in mountainous terrain near Sinnemahoning. Two crews totaling forty-nine men were sent to the fire from Camp Cameron. The weather was very hot. Forest fuels were extremely dry from an extended drought and an early frost which had killed foliage, so the fire moved rapidly uphill. The men were tired from fighting another fire the previous day. They hadn’t returned to camp until 5:30 a.m. According to a 1979 investigation report by Warren A. Ely, enrollee leader Edward Sofchak testified, “When we were called back out at 1:00 I looked at the men, and a couple of them were not fit in my mind for any further work — Bogush and Stephanic were pretty tired. They almost fell asleep on the truck.” Other testimony at the investigations found a lack of training in fire fighting for most of the men. The combination of tired, untrained men and fast-moving fires in hilly terrain was fatal. Tired, confused crew members got ahead of the fire and uphill from it, a serious mistake in firefighting. The fire moved more rapidly uphill than the men could and eight were burned to death.” (Gabbert, Bill. Infamous Wildland Fires around the World by Calendar Date (website). 7-2-2013.)
PA DCNR: “ In the fall of 1938, a tragic fire occurred in Grove Township, Cameron County. The following is an account of that fire taken from weather records, news accounts, interviews and reports of investigations conducted by the U.S. Army, State Police, Coroner’s juries and the Department of Forests and Waters. Here is the story of the Pepper Hill Fire.
“At 11:10 on October 19, 1938 it was again hot and dry. District Forester Baer phoned Camp Cameron, CCC Camp S-132, and asked them to send someone to check a reported fire in the vicinity of Sinnemahoning. By 12:00 they reported that there were several fires. Two crews of C.C.C. enrollees were dispatched to the fire: Foreman Kammrath with 25 enrollees and Mohney with 22 enrollees. Both of these crews had been on the Jerry Run Fire from the day before until 5:30 that morning.
“About 1:45 pm, the two crews arrived at the fire scene along the Austin Road (now state route 872). There were four fires burning in the vicinity. Kammrath made the decision to take the middle fire which was the smallest fire and they started along the road on the left side. Mohney began along the right side of the fire and started to burn out the area but was then instructed by Camp Forester Houpt to proceed to the top of the mountain and construct a line downhill. Houpt then went to another fire.
“At approximately 2:45 pm Mohney and crew began walking up the mountain. Because of the steepness and fatigue from the previous day’s fire, the crew became separated as some individuals stopped more often to rest. Some enrollees noticed the fire below them but were not alarmed at first. As the weather changed and a frontal system approached, the winds shifted and increased causing the fire to advance rapidly up the hollow. It was now 3:30 pm.
“Mohney was not far up the hill when he was overtaken by the fire. He was the first fatality. Enrollee Mackey ran up and to the right and survived. Others now noticed the fire below them as they were about 3/4 of the way to the top. Damico, Vogel, Hollobaugh, Jacofsky and Bogush tried to outrun the fire but were unable. They climbed upon a rock and sprayed each other with water. Unfortunately they all fell off the rock. They were burned and bare. They tried to walk down to the road. Bogush died at the scene. Jacofsky, Hollobaugh and Vogel died later. Damico recovered. Enrollee Kiliany with nine other men were further up the mountain, about 50 yards from the top. Three of the nine men “lost their heads” and then perished in the fire: Boring, Stefphanic and May. Three enrollees reached the top and took refuge on a large rock now called Survivors Rock: Shenal, Majorsky and Gaydos.
“The fire was extinguished by rain at around 8:30 pm that night. One hundred thirty-four acres were burned in this fire and it cost eight men their life. The fire was intentionally started.
Eight Med Died:
Gilbert Mohney, age 38, Ridgway, PA
Bogush, age 19, Conemaugh, PA
John Boring, age 19, Johnstown, PA
Ross Hollobaugh, age 18, Rimersburg, PA
Stephen Jacofsky, age 17, Johnstown, PA
Howard May, age 18, Erie, PA
Andrew Stefphanic, age 18, Twin Rocks, Pa
George Vogel, age 17, Hometown Unknown.” (PA DCNR. “Pepper Hill Fire Story.”)
Sources
Gabbert, Bill. Infamous Wildland Fires around the World by Calendar Date (website). 7-2-2013. Accessed 11-28-2016 at: http://wildfiretoday.com/documents/Infamous_World_Fires_07-02-2013.pdf
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. “Pepper Hill Fire Story.” Accessed 11-28-2016 at: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_20030301.pdf