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Show Wyoming Forest Fire Is Subdued; Claims 14 Lives CODY, Wyo., Aug. 24 (U.R) A four-day fire that claimed claim-ed the lives of 14 men, sent 24 others to hospitals, and destroyed 2,000 acres of virgin vir-gin timberland in Shoshone National Forest, was subdued by rangers and CCC enrollees today. Col. Alan S. Peck, regional forester for-ester of Denver, returned from the fire line at 8 a. m. and said the fire had been extinguished. He planned to call off firefighters, at one time numbering 700, later in the day. Patients Satisfactory The three Cody hospitals reported re-ported all fire patients "satisfactory." "satisfac-tory." CCC officials planned to shiD the bodies of enrollees killed in the inferno, to their homes today to-day or tomorrow. Two men and a dog were praised prais-ed as heroes of the fire, the most disastrous in Wyoming's history. There was a movement here to seek congresisonal medals of honor posthumously, for Rex Hale of Afton, Wyo., and James Sabin of Hyattville, Wyo., CCC camp supervisors who died trying to lead their men to safety through the fire-Saves fire-Saves 25 Men "Shep" the mongrel mascot of the CCC camp at Tensleep. Wyo., was credited with saving 25 men. The 25 were trapped in a rocky ravine where they were building a fire lane in advance of the flames when a gust of wind swept fire through the tree tops and surrounded sur-rounded them. "The dog followed us into the fire zone," Randle said. "We tried to send him back but he wouldn't go. We watched him closely to trv to keep him from being burner. "Suddenly the fire whistled through the tree tops above our heads and we knew we were trapped. trap-ped. We couldn't stay where we were and we didn't know which way to go. "Shep ran up on the rocks at the edge of the ravine, directiy into the face of the fire. He kept looking back and whining. We all followed him and kept as close to the rock wall as possible. "When the heat became unbearable, unbear-able, Shep went down into the gulley again but as soon as the fire passed he went back up the ledge. He turned back toward us, whined, and started out over the rocks. "We followed him and he led us over the ridge into the open and we were saved." Duty said that several of 'the youths wanted to turn back and look for lost articles where the fire had swept, but "Shet" ran between be-tween them and the charred spot and would not let them return. Ambrocio Garza, CCC recruit from Corpus Christi, Tex., died in a hospital last night. |