 On August 18 , 1937 , a lightning strike started the Blackwater fire in Shoshone National Forest , approximately 35 miles ( 56 km ) west of Cody , Wyoming , United States . Fifteen firefighters were killed by the forest fire when a dry weather front caused the winds to suddenly increase and change direction . The fire quickly spread into dense forest , creating spot fires that trapped some of the firefighters in a firestorm . Nine firefighters died during the fire and six more died shortly thereafter from severe burns and respiratory complications and another 38 firefighters were injured . More wildland firefighters were killed in the Blackwater fire than in any other in a United States National Forest in the 103 year interval between the Great Fire of 1910 and the Yarnell Hill Fire of 2013 . 
