Stayton Boy Scouts praised for dousing potential wildfire on wilderness backpacking trip

Zach Urness
Statesman Journal

A group of Boy Scouts from Stayton and Sublimity are getting kudos from across Oregon for acting quickly to put out a potential wildfire last weekend.

Boy Scout Troop 50 was in the middle of a 25-mile backpacking trip in the Waldo Lake Wildeness when one of the leaders, Stuart Gamble, came across an escaped campfire creeping along the ground toward the forest near Moolack Lake.

The group of six scouts and three adults grabbed water bottles, a bear box, and small hand shovels and attacked what was estimated as a 200 square foot smoldering fire burning in brush and under a log and plants. 

Waldo Lake:Best outdoor adventures of 2016: No. 6 Waldo Lake island hopping

Wildfire:Trapped by the Eagle Creek Fire, Salem teenagers survive night in the wild

"It was smoldering and smoky and definitely crawling toward the drier areas in the trees," said 13-year-old Luke West of Sublimity. "If any strong wind would have picked up, it would have caught the forest on fire easily." 

The troop formed a “bucket brigade," passing water down the line, and shuttled water from the lake to the fire, dumping around 150 to 200 gallons on it while stirring and cooling the fire and digging a line around it.  

"We’re taught when we get into scouts how to start a fire and how to put it out correctly," West said. "We just brought those skills into this situation and did our best." 

The troop spent about two hours making sure the fire was "cold to the touch" before continuing on and hiking another 2 miles to a campsite for the night. 

Members of Boy Scout Troop 50 from Stayton and Sublimity, who put out a potentially smoldering campfire.

West said the troop had no idea their actions would spread across the state, but after fire officials heard the story, thanks began to pour in.

“A big thank you to the Boy Scouts of America for putting out an abandoned campfire in the Waldo Lake Wilderness this weekend,” Willamette National Forest said on Facebook and Twitter. “This is an example of a fire that was stopped before becoming a bigger incident.”

“Great Job!” wrote the Oregon Department of Forestry. “Also a great reminder to follow fire season rules and regulations, including keeping campfires in approved campgrounds and fully putting them out when finished.”

Since then, the boys have been featured on television news, radio stations and now the newspaper. Their story has spread on social media like, well, a wildfire. 

"We had no idea it would get this big," West said. 

The boys on the trip included: West, Sebastian Fulks, Sterling Fulks, Clifford Gamble, Cutler Nelson and Conner Redman. The three adults were Gamble, Stephen Fulks and BC Nelson.

“It was an incredible experience,” scoutmaster Scott West said. ““They did exactly what we teach them. I was very impressed with the scouts and adults.”

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter, photographer and videographer in Oregon for 11 years. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.