Fire fighting volunteers in Tennessee in the 40s and 50s?

[p51]

My dad tells me that when he was a young man in the 50s in Northeast Tennessee, the state would have trucks going up and down the roads during forest fire season and they'd just pick you up (with your own shovel). One year, he hopped into a truck with paratroopers from Ft Bragg called out for fire duty.
Once, a group was on top of a ridge and fire came up both sides at once, at amazing speed. They had no time to run and all were burned up where they stood. The charred bodies were found in crawling or running poses, he recalled from photos in the paper later.
They quit doing that, because of this.
Over the years., I've tried to find out more about the event that stopped this program, with no success. I couldn't find anything online as a search for fire fighting deaths will give you an sadly infinite listing to wade through...
Just curious if anyone else ever heard about this.

 

[2jakes]

My dad tells me that when he was a young man in the 50s in Northeast Tennessee, the state would have trucks going up and down the roads during forest fire season and they'd just pick you up (with your own shovel). One year, he hopped into a truck with paratroopers from Ft Bragg called out for fire duty.
Once, a group was on top of a ridge and fire came up both sides at once, at amazing speed. They had no time to run and all were burned up where they stood. The charred bodies were found in crawling or running poses, he recalled from photos in the paper later.
They quit doing that, because of this.
Over the years., I've tried to find out more about the event that stopped this program, with no success. I couldn't find anything online as a search for fire fighting deaths will give you an sadly infinite listing to wade through...
Just curious if anyone else ever heard about this.

Are you able to narrow it down to a specific city or location?
Check with the fire/police departments or newspapers in that area.
I know that newspapers keep archives of past events.

 

[Bamaboots]

p51, could this be it. Occurred near Johnson City which is a mountainous area in east TN.
http://wlfalwaysremember.org/incident-lists/721-herman-carden-ken-pierce-jerry-woods.html

 

[p51]

YEP, that's it. Dad lived just easy of Elizabethton, so this was reasonably close by. I thought most of them were kids like him but didn't know they all were. I think Dad was on this fire in another location but I could be wrong, I'll have to ask him. This was a couple of days before his 18th birthday.
Thanks, I'd been looking for a long time for that!

 

[She'sgotcurves]

Close to home and never heard of it, so east of E-town? Stoney creek area?

If your in the area check out the Carter mansion, very neat house it was supposedly the first "Sears kit house" in TN