In August 1910, this area was ravaged by one of a series of huge forest fires that swept the inland empire. Small fires had been burning for days in timber parched by a record drought, and despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters to control the fires, gale-force winds fanned small fires into big ones. An estimated three million acres were devastated by the 1910 fires. While fighting the huge fires, Forest Ranger Edward C. Pulaski and his crew of 45 men were trapped by the flames. He led his crew into an abandoned mine tunnel and held them there until the fire passed. Six men died, but Pulaski’s prompt action saved the other members of the crew. The tunnel in which Pulaski and his men took refuge is about 2 miles upstream on the west fork of Placer Creek.