Dude Fire Anniversary

 

July 7, 2010

On June 26, 1990, a lightning caused fire near Payson trapped members of the Perryville fire crew, killing one Arizona Department of Corrections employee and five inmate firefighters.

A day earlier, at the request of the U.S. Forest Service, AA Sandra Bachman, ASPC-Perryville/San Pedro Unit and several inmate firefighters were dispatched to a forest fire 90 miles northeast of Phoenix.  The following day Ms. Bachman and her crew of firefighters were surrounded in the fire and could not escape. 

On the 20-year anniversary of that fateful day, a memorial service was held in Payson at the Northern Gila County Historical Society, Rim Country Museum grounds.  ADC Senior Chaplain Mike Linderman, who was also the Senior Chaplain at Perryville at the time of the Dude Fire, was one of the invited guest speakers, and he spoke to those in attendance about his memories of Dude Fire and how it changed his life. 

As part of the anniversary event, the museum also opened a “Dude Fire Exhibit” in the museum.  Following the ceremony, local area fire fighters and “hot-shot” crews were treated to a picnic lunch on the museum grounds.

 

Chaplain Linderman speaks to guests who attended the memorial service.		Dozens of guests gathered for the memorial service at a park near the museum.
Other speakers included Payson Council member Su Connell; Rev. Lowell Andrews, Church of the Holy Nativity; Payson Vice Mayor Mike Hughes and Jim Paxon, retired Forest Service Spokesman on the Dude Fire.		Linderman and Paxon both worked on the Rodeo Chediski Fire in 2002, Paxon as the Forest Service PIO and Linderman as a member of the Buckeye Valley Fire District.