The occasion: the 50th anniversary rededication of the U.S. Forest Service's Aerial Fire Depot, now called the Missoula Fire, Science and Technology Center.
Running from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Forest Service complex on U.S. Highway 12 West, the festivities will include open houses and tours of the agency's fire cache, Fire Sciences Lab, Northern Rockies Fire Training Center and the Missoula Technology and Development Center.
Most notable will be four early smokejumper aircraft: a 1928 Travel Air that once belonged to Johnson Flying Service, a Twin Beech, a Ford Tri-Motor and the DC-3 used to carry jumpers to the tragic Mann Gulch fire in August 1949.
The formal rededication ceremony will begin at 2 p.m., and will include comments from Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth, Bureau of Land Management director Kathleen Clark and Bob Sallee, the last remaining survivor of the Mann Gulch blowup.
In addition, Neptune Aviation Services will do two water drops from one of its fleet of heavy air tankers, one near the beginning of the rededication ceremony - with water colored red, white and blue for the occasion.
A second drop is planned at 5 p.m. near Neptune's hangar. The company will have an open house at its facility from 3 to 6 p.m.
Refreshments, free T-shirts, mouse pads and guided tours of Neptune's maintenance facilities and firefighting aircraft will be available. Visitors should watch for signs on the east side of the airport.
The Forest Service's festivities come 50 years after President Dwight Eisenhower stepped off Air Force One in Missoula to christen the newly completed Aerial Fire Depot.
Eisenhower was presented with a leather football helmet used by smokejumpers of the day as protective gear when jumping onto wildfires - and a variety of political dignitaries added their welcome in brief speeches.
Forty-four minutes later, Eisenhower was off again - to Walla Walla, Wash.
Saturday's schedule will be without a presidential visit, but will include thousands of current and former smokejumpers and agency officials.
A free shuttle bus will run from the University of Montana's Adams Center parking lot beginning at noon and running every 15 minutes until 5 p.m. The shuttle and parking come courtesy of the National Smokejumpers' Association, which is holding a reunion in Missoula this weekend.
Reporter Sherry Devlin can be reached at 523-5268 or at sdevlin@missoulian.com.
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)