- Dates
- 1956-10-25 – 1956-10-26
- Kind
- Disaster
- Where
- Beaver Island
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- disasterenvironmentcommunitygovernance
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
On October 25, 1956, James Gallagher discovered a fire in Big Willio’s Swamp while watering cattle. Residents, the local Conservation Officer, and Coast Guard personnel contained it, with about 30 people reported answering the call.
Evidence and limits
This is a newspaper incident and response report. It does not provide the fire’s cause, burn area, damage assessment, investigation, or complete response roster.
Sources
- Reports that James Gallagher discovered a fire shortly after noon on October 25 while watering cattle in Big Willio’s Swamp, about a half-mile east of his stone house. It says Pete Rennie saw it from the air, equipment was rushed by local Conservation Officer Karl Kuebler and Coast Guard members, and Bill Pischner and Kenny McDonough assisted the next day; about 30 people answered the call. It does not provide a fire-investigation report, burn-area measurement, cause, or complete response roster. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1956-11_Beaver-Beacon
- The held five-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the fire-response report; it does not expand the cause, damage, or fire-management record.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1956-11_Beaver-Beacon
Added 3 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Residents and Coast Guard contain a forest fire at Big Willio’s Swamp, 1956”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-big-willios-swamp-fire-1956/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, November 1956, “Forest Fire.” (and 1 further source listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
BibTeX for “Residents and Coast Guard contain a forest fire at Big Willio’s Swamp, 1956”RIS for “Residents and Coast Guard contain a forest fire at Big Willio’s Swamp, 1956”