The History of Cape Cod Brush Breakers

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CAPE COD BRUSH BREAKERS

HISTORY - IN REVIEW
Brush & Forest Fire Apparatus History
BARNSTABLE COUNTY

~ THE STORY ~
~ PLYMOUTH COUNTY FOREST FIRES ~
PAGE 6
Page Updated January 26, 2022

Cape Cod Brush Breaker
Barnstable County Forest Fire Service No.1 - 1957 Ford/Maxim

PAGE CONTENTS

M - Map
01 - The Cape Cod Forest Fire Problem
02 - Historical Cape Cod Forest Fires
03 - One Large Cape Cod Forest Fire - 1946
04 - Cape Cod Forest Fire Jumped Route 6 - May 1965
05 - Plymouth County Forest Fires
06 - Some More Recent Forest Fires
07 - The Fire Danger - Firefighter Memorial
08 - Fire Prevention - Only You!
09 - Public Education - Smokey Bear
10 - Spotting Fires - Fire Towers
11 - Spotting Fires - Fire Patrol Planes
12 - Locating Fires - Fire Patrol Trucks
13 - Early Firefighting - By Hand
14 - Early Fire Apparatus
15 - First Brush Breakers
16 - Barnstable County Brush Breakers
17 - State Forest Fire Trucks
18 - On The Islands - Brush Trucks
19 - Plymouth County - Brush Trucks
20 - Brush Breakers Working
21 - The Hey Day of Brush Breakers
22 - Tankers and Other Support Apparatus
23 - Forest Fire Training
24 - Small, Medium, and Large Brush Trucks
25 - The Newest Brush Trucks
26 - The END TIMES

MAP

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CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS

BARNSTABLE COUNTY

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1 - THE CAPE COD FOREST FIRE PROBLEM

Forest fires raging through pine forest.

There is a map inside the Myles Standish State Forest District 2 Headquarters showing some of the many significant fires that have struck Plymouth County over the years.

Some of this information provided by John Hedge, Plymouth FD Captain (Retired) who had researched area news reports about some of the great Plymouth fires.

The Great Fire of 1900
September 12, 1900 - September 15, 1900
A fire started near Carver and burned to the shores of Cape Cod Bay. Strong gusty winds, the remnants of the great Galveston (Texas) Hurricane fanned the fire as it burned four miles in 30 minutes at one point. The fire destroyed many structures as well.

Spring 1937
     A fire bug was blamed for a large number of fires in Plymouth during the spring and summer of 1937. One fire burned about 300 acres from the Bourne town line to Herring pond.
     On May 4, 1937 a fire started in the Pine Hills near Mast Road. A sudden change in the wind caused the fire to sweep across Sandwich Road. Two firefighters, James H. Devitt, aged 20 and Herbert R. Benton, aged 38 were trapped on the road and were killed. These are believed to be the first firemen killed in Plymouth. There were many more men on that road at that time who barely escaped, some of whom were badly burned.
      While that fire was burning another fire began on Island Pond Road, and yet another on Summer Street in Plymouth. With these three large fires burning at the same time, help was called from departments within a 20 mile radius. Over 700 men fought the fires.
      The following day, another fire began just north of Ponds Road and burned to State Road. These four fires over two days were more than usually experienced in five years. Other fires were set, but controlled with less damage over the next few days.

May 8, 1957
     15,000 Acres burn in a massive forest fire that burned from Cranberry Road in the Myles Standish forest in Carver to the water in Manomet. The fire which began about 3:00 PM on Wednesday had a 3 mile front within an hour. A brisk, strong southwesterly wind drove the fire about 12 miles.
     About 30 minutes before the fire began, a Plymouth brush breaker had been sent to battle a fire in Mashpee on the Cape. This breaker was recalled to fight the fire in the home town of Plymouth. Apparatus responded to this fire from Framingham to Provincetown according to reports, including apparatus from Falmouth, Harwich, Truro, Onset and Bourne, as well as other Plymouth County departments and all the State apparatus in Southeastern Mass. Soldiers from Otis and prisoners from Plymouth were put to work as were many local and state police officers. Plymouth Fire Chief Everett B. Wood ordered the evacuation of more than 150 people. Approximately 6 cottages were destroyed. Over 3,000 firefighters battled the fire it is estimated.

May 23, 1964 - Saturday
     A large fire burned in the South Carver area.
May 25, 1964 - Monday, Approx 1:00 PM
    The fire tower observed a fire starting up in the Farm-to-Market Road area in South Carver near where the fire burned on the previous Saturday. Just three minutes later, another fire was spotted in the Suther's Marsh Road area off Federal Furnace Road. Eight breakers from Plymouth and Carver responded into the Suther's Marsh Road fire. Other apparatus from Wareham responded into the Myles Standish fire. The Suther's Marsh fire was controlled in two hours, but the other fire continued to gain headway and was now much larger. It moved eastward towards Charge Pond and Camp Cachalot at Five Mile Pond and Little Long Pond. It jumped the Agawam River and moved to White Island Pond. Chief Arthur Lamb chose to take a stand at White Island Pond to block the north end of the fire and at Shangri-La Shores near Glen Charlie Road to the south. About 1,000 men battled the fire with winds gusting to 30 mph and tinder dry conditions. About 20 cottages lost. About 5,500 acres burned.

May 15, 1971
Seven Plymouth firefighters were burned in a fire that destroyed 165 acres when wind direction changes burned firefighters on two brush breakers. The two damaged vehicles were a 1955 Dodge Power Wagon and a 1968 International. The fire was on the east side of Myles Standish in the Camp Squanto BSA campground. More than 40 apparatus from Plymouth and Barnstable counties fought the fire.

1991
About 1,200 acres were burned.

May 8, 1995
A fast moving fire whipped by 25 mph winds forced hundreds of residents to flee a fire in the Captains Country and Wind Shores neighborhoods about 1:30 PM quickly destroying 95 acres and threatening more than a hundred homes in the Bourne Road area. Mutual aid from 18 departments responded.

Painting in the Myles Standish headquarters.

Some of the following information was provided by John Hedge, Plymouth FD Captain (Retired) who had researched area news reports about some of the great Plymouth fires.

1900 - THE GREAT FIRE OF 1900
     September 12, 1900 - September 15, 1900
     A fire started near Carver and burned to the shores of Cape Cod Bay. Strong gusty winds, the remnants of the great Galveston (Texas) Hurricane fanned the fire as it burned four miles in 30 minutes at one point. The fire destroyed many structures as well.

1937 - SPRING FIRES
     A fire bug was blamed for a large number of fires in Plymouth during the spring and summer of 1937. One fire burned about 300 acres from the Bourne town line to Herring pond.

MAY 4, 1937 - 2 FIREFIGHTERS KILLED
     On May 4, 1937 a fire started in the Pine Hills near Mast Road. A sudden change in the wind caused the fire to sweep across Sandwich Road. Two firefighters, James H. Devitt, aged 20 and Herbert R. Benton, aged 38 were trapped on the road and were killed. These are believed to be the first firemen killed in Plymouth. There were many more men on that road at that time who barely escaped, some of whom were badly burned.

      While that fire was burning another fire began on Island Pond Road, and yet another on Summer Street in Plymouth. With these three large fires burning at the same time, help was called from departments within a 20 mile radius. Over 700 men fought the fires.

      The following day, another fire began just north of Ponds Road and burned to State Road. These four fires over two days were more than usually experienced in five years. Other fires were set, but controlled with less damage over the next few days.

1957 - CARVER FIRE
     May 8, 1957 15,000 Acres burn in a massive forest fire that burned from Cranberry Road in the Myles Standish forest in Carver to the water in Manomet. The fire which began about 3:00 PM on Wednesday had a 3 mile front within an hour. A brisk, strong southwesterly wind drove the fire about 12 miles.
     About 30 minutes before the fire began, a Plymouth brush breaker had been sent to battle a fire in Mashpee on the Cape. This breaker was recalled to fight the fire in the home town of Plymouth. Apparatus responded to this fire from Framingham to Provincetown according to reports, including apparatus from Falmouth, Harwich, Truro, Onset and Bourne, as well as other Plymouth County departments and all the State apparatus in Southeastern Mass. Soldiers from Otis and prisoners from Plymouth were put to work as were many local and state police officers. Plymouth Fire Chief Everett B. Wood ordered the evacuation of more than 150 people. Approximately 6 cottages were destroyed. Over 3,000 firefighters battled the fire it is estimated.

1964 - CARVER FIRES
     May 23, 1964 - Saturday
     A large fire burned in the South Carver area.

    May 25, 1964 - Monday, Approx 1:00 PM
    The fire tower observed a fire starting up in the Farm-to-Market Road area in South Carver near where the fire burned on the previous Saturday. Just three minutes later, another fire was spotted in the Suther's Marsh Road area off Federal Furnace Road. Eight breakers from Plymouth and Carver responded into the Suther's Marsh Road fire. Other apparatus from Wareham responded into the Myles Standish fire. The Suther's Marsh fire was controlled in two hours, but the other fire continued to gain headway and was now much larger. It moved eastward towards Charge Pond and Camp Cachalot at Five Mile Pond and Little Long Pond. It jumped the Agawam River and moved to White Island Pond. Chief Arthur Lamb chose to take a stand at White Island Pond to block the north end of the fire and at Shangri-La Shores near Glen Charlie Road to the south. About 1,000 men battled the fire with winds gusting to 30 mph and tinder dry conditions. About 20 cottages lost. About 5,500 acres burned.

1971 - CAMP SQUANTO FIRE
May 15, 1971
Seven Plymouth firefighters were burned in a fire that destroyed 165 acres when wind direction changes burned firefighters on two brush breakers. The two damaged vehicles were a 1955 Dodge Power Wagon and a 1968 International. The fire was on the east side of Myles Standish in the Camp Squanto BSA campground. More than 40 apparatus from Plymouth and Barnstable counties fought the fire.

1991 - PLYMOUTH FIRE
About 1,200 acres were burned.

1995 - PLYMOUTH FIRE
May 8, 1995
A fast moving fire whipped by 25 mph winds forced hundreds of residents to flee a fire in the Captains Country and Wind Shores neighborhoods about 1:30 PM quickly destroying 95 acres and threatening more than a hundred homes in the Bourne Road area. Mutual aid from 18 departments responded.

Cape Cod and other areas of Southeastern Massachusetts are known for the many serious brush and forest fires that struck communities over the years.

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2 - HISTORIC CAPE COD FOREST FIRES

Historic forest fires raged across Cape Cod many times.
Aug 1907 Fire

Going far back in history, large forest fires have impacted communities and industries.

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3 - ONE LARGE CAPE COD FOREST FIRE - 1946

The 1946 Forest Fire burned about 15,000 acres

A 1946 Forest Fire in the upper Cape burned for days. It covered about 15,000 acres. A documentary film was made showing the progress and response to the fire including the use of brush breakers of that time.

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4 - CAPE COD FOREST FIRE JUMPED ROUTE 6 - MAY 1965

1965 Fire jumped Route 6 in Sandwich

A rapidly moving forest fire that started in the Otis/Camp Edwards Military Reservation raged to and jumped over the Mid-Cape Highway (Route 6) in Sandwich on May 1, 1965. It scorched and blackened many acres of forest visible for a number of years.

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5 - PLYMOUTH COUNTY FOREST FIRES

Map showing some of the historic Plymouth County Forest Fires.

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6 - SOME MORE RECENT FOREST FIRES

The PAVE PAWS Forest Fire burned in the 1988.

A large fire known as the PAVE PAWS Fire occurred on April 22, 1988. It burned about 1600 acres around the radar site. Photo taken from Fire Patrol Plane P18.

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7 - THE FIRE DANGER - FIREFIGHTER MEMORIAL

Firefighter Memorial Route 130 in Sandwich

A forest fire on April 27, 1938 burned out of the Camp Edwards National Guard Camp, eventually covering a 5 mile wide by 12 mile long area toward Sandwich into what would be the Shawme Crowell State Forest. Three of the firemen who battled the blaze were trapped, burned, and killed by the fire. The memorial remembers Thomas Adams, Ervin Draber, and Gordon King who were lost that day.

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8 - FIRE PREVENTION - ONLY YOU!

The prevention of forest fires became a major effort.

"Only you can prevent forest fires."

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9 - PUBLIC EDUCATION - SMOKEY BEAR

Smokey Bear

Public education and fire prevention go hand in hand.

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10 - SPOTTING FIRES - FIRE TOWERS

Fire towers, like this one in Barnstable in 1919, were staffed by spotters who
overlooked the Cape and other areas looking for smoke as fires started.

Fire towers became a vital part of combating forest fires. The earlier the fire could be detected and reported, the sooner it could be contained.

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11 - SPOTTING FIRES - FIRE PATROL PLANES

Barnstable County Fire Patrol Plane P-18

Barnstable County and Plymouth County both operated Fire Patrol Planes for many years. Going back to at least 1954, and perhaps before, these planes could provide assistance in locating fires and advising chiefs and personnel on the ground how to safely access them.

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12 - LOCATING FIRES - FIRE PATROL TRUCKS

Fire Patrol Trucks were also a vital aspect of battling wild fires.

Before many fire departments were staffed, there were staffed Fire Patrol trucks that would be in contact via radio with fire towers and the fire patrol plane and often reached fires first. Shown here around 1958 at the Marstons Mills Airport are the Town of Barnstable Patrol truck 210 and the State Patrol Truck Car 3, as well as some chiefs.

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13 - EARLY FIREFIGHTING - BY HAND

In the beginning, fires were fought by hand

Many of the largest fires were fought before there were many motorvehicles

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14 - EARLY FIRE APPARATUS

Photo

Info

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15 - FIRST BRUSH BREAKERS

Photo

Info