"The wind suddenly arose and within 10 minutes it had attained the velocity of a cyclone," Bracklin wrote. "In less time than it takes to write this, the fire was upon us, not on the ground as you might imagine, but in the air . . . There was a solid wall of fire similar to a great wave, extending as far to each side as one could see and mounting 50 feet in height."

Running to a clearing, he and two companions scooped holes in the moist earth and thrust their faces in, "for when we stood up, the heat and smoke were so thick we could not breathe."

Bracklin saw no escape. "Miller and Peterson were on their knees praying, while as for myself . . . I concluded that as I had never asked God for anything prior to that, it was a very poor time to start in, now that I was about to die."

The fire raged for hours. "Trees were falling all around us, and as I stood there, wishing one might fall on me and end it all, it started to rain. It must have poured, for before I realized what had happened I was wet to the skin. That brought me back to my senses and I realized that I was alive and that I still wanted to live."

Blistered and hoarse, the three loggers made their way safely out of the only refuge from the 30,000-acre fire.

- Wisconsin Historical Society http://www.wisconsinhistory.org

Odd Wisconsin

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