Capitan Gap fire
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The Capitan Gap Fire was a human-caused forest fire that broke out in Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico in the Capitan mountain range in 1950.
This fire devastated 17,000 acres (69 km²).
While a 24-man firefighting crew desperately dug firebreaks the wind shifted, and the fire jumped the line. The men buried themselves in the earth of a recent landslide, and survived the fire.
On the up-side, a bear cub who the men had seen ducking in and out of the forest earlier survived the fire by climbing a tree and hanging onto the windward side with only singes and other survivable injuries. He was rescued by the firefighters and named Hotfoot, before filling the role of Smokey Bear.
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