September 5, 2026, 1 – 2:30 pm Speaker: Richard Markley, historian, author, and retired Forest Service Administrator Civilian Conservation Corps Title of Talk: “Tragedy and Heroism in the Work of the Civilian Conservation Corps in Nevada: The Rock Creek Fire of 1939” Summary of Talk: This presentation will share recently published research about a little-known tragic wildfire that took the lives of 5 young Civilian Conservation Corps firefighters in northern Nevada in 1939. Two of the fallen firefighters had heroically tried to save several of their fellow firefighters but were overtaken by the fast-moving flames and perished. Known as the Rock Creek Fire, it ranks as one of the worst firefighter fatality fires in Nevada history. Who were these young men who risked their lives fighting a wildfire in a remote region of Nevada? What did the post-fire investigations reveal? What factors ultimately led to the tragic outcome? The young men, most from destitute families struggling to make ends meet during the Great Depression, and fresh off the streets of New York City, had received minimal training in firefighting. For most of the men, this was their first wildfire assignment. Newly published research by Mr. Markley reveals much about the men who perished, what led to their deaths, and what has become the legacy of the Rock Creek Fire. Speaker Biography: Richard Markley is a wildfire history researcher and author who retired from the U.S. Forest Service after serving 32 years as an archaeologist, district ranger, and forest supervisor in the forests of California, Idaho, Oregon, and New Mexico. As a national forest administrator, he oversaw complex wildland fire management programs and firefighting personnel. He served on wildland fire fatality review boards and was an instructor at the national wildland fire training center in Tucson, Arizona. He received a master’s degree in Anthropology from California State University, Chico, and now lives in Gardnerville, Nevada, about 4 hours from the site of the Rock Creek fire tragedy. We would like to thank our partner, the Washoe County Library System, and the Sierra View Library for hosting our off-site lectures. Sierra View Library has been serving communities from Midtown to South Reno since 1987. Located inside the Reno Town Mall, directly across from the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, the library has two entrances. The front entrance allows visitors to stroll by shops and businesses in the mall, while the second entrance is accessible from the rear, south side of the mall. This back entrance has an ADA accessible lift. The address is 4001 S Virginia St, Reno, NV 89502.
