Fighting a wildfire is hard enough. Now imagine doing it after jumping out of an airplane with little more than your gear strapped to your back. That was the job of the early smokejumpers, a group of firefighters who volunteered to parachute into remote forests where roads couldn’t reach and every minute mattered. It was dangerous work that demanded skill, courage, and a willingness to go where few others could.
These images capture the preparation before each jump, the rugged landscapes they worked in, and the men who helped create one of the most unique firefighting traditions in the world. Looking through these images, it is easy to appreciate just how extraordinary the job was long before modern equipment made it any easier. Let’s take a look at 20 vintage photos of early smokejumpers.
1. The paratroopers of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion are preparing to jump from a Douglas C-47, 1945
This squad made over 8,000 jumps as smokejumpers into the wildfires in the Pacific Northwest.
2. U.S. Forest Service smokejumpers in New Mexico, 1948
3. A smokejumper descending eerily toward a forest fire in Montana, 1960s
4. Smokejumpers about to take off out of Missoula Airport, Missoula, Montana, 1941
5. Just the water on their backs to put out the edge of the fire, 1942
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6. Smokejumpers heading out for a practice jump, Missoula, Montana, 1950s
7. A smokejumper surveying the forests of Idaho, 1952
8. Smokejumper training in Oregon, 1957
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9. Getting caught in the trees while trying to land during a fire, 1966
10. A tough landing during training in Montana, 1970
11. An American smokejumper leaping out to help with fires in Canada, 1990s
12. Heading into the smoky abyss, 1941
13. Imagine leaping out at 3,000 feet into a massive forest fire, 1942
14. A helicopter dropping chemical flame retardant on the flame before the smokejumpers go in, New Hampshire, 1959
15. Using the knapsack the handpump to suppress a fire, North Carolina, 1930
16. “My dad in his smoke jumping gear in 1960”
17. The first female smokejumper, Deanne Shulman, 1981
18. This is all the gear they used in the 1930s when jumping into a forest fire
19. Smokejumper squad leader Bill Carver and new trainees fully suited practicing on the “mock-uprisers”, which is designed to teach the planning maneuvers and strengthen arm and shoulder muscles, 1952
20. Frank Derry, parachute instructor, instructing prospective smokejumpers in the use of the “drop rig”, which simulates landing from a chute caught in a tree
Want to see more vintage content?
Check out 24 Vintage Photos That Perfectly Capture WWI, or take a look at 20 Vintage Photos Of Soldiers In The Trenches. Finally, if you want to see vintage photos of astronauts from the past, check out 20 Vintage Photos Of Astronauts That Bring The Past To Life (1960s-1990s).
