Wildland Firefighter
Monument

The Wildland Firefighter Monument in Prineville, Oregon honors the men and women who risk and sometimes sacrifice their lives fighting wildfires in the forests, grasslands, and mountains of the American West. Prineville is located in Crook County in central Oregon — a region surrounded by national forest and rangeland managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The area has a deep connection to wildland firefighting history, particularly following the South Canyon Fire tragedy of 1994.

On July 6, 1994, the South Canyon Fire (also called the Storm King Mountain Fire) near Glenwood Springs, Colorado killed 14 wildland firefighters — 9 of them smokejumpers and hotshots from the Prineville Hotshot crew. The Prineville Hotshots lost 9 of their 20 crew members that day, making it one of the worst losses in wildland firefighting history. The monument in Prineville was created specifically to honor those fallen firefighters and all wildland firefighters who give their lives to protect forests and communities.

Wildland firefighting is among the most dangerous occupations in America. Crews face extreme heat, unpredictable fire behavior driven by wind and terrain, and physically demanding work in remote areas far from support. The fire season in the American West has grown dramatically longer and more intense due to climate change, drought, and a century of fire suppression that has allowed fuel accumulation in Western forests. The Wildland Firefighter Monument ensures that the courage and sacrifice of these crews — many of them young men and women in their 20s — is permanently honored in their home community.