YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — On March 30, 1925, a fire swept through Mammoth Hot Springs that destroyed a number of buildings and a fleet of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) vehicles.
As park officials were preparing for the summer season, an oil furnace exploded in the blacksmith shop located within the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company’s maintenance building. Buses of Yellowstone Preservation Trust, a Montana-based historical organization and museum, posted to its social media account on Monday recounting the devastating fire that took place 101 years ago and destroyed over 80 vehicles.
“The explosion quickly scattered burning fragments all over the shop,” the post reads. “Fanned by a strong wind from the south, the fire spread quickly and completely destroyed a large number of park vehicles and the garage in which they were housed as well as machine, paint and top shops, and several homes with one being that of F. E. Kammermeyer, Transportation Superintendent. All were destroyed within an hour.”
According to the Preservation Trust, no fatalities occurred, and some mechanics who tried to save the garage and vehicles received only minor burns. The following vehicles were lost in the fire, totaling $500,000 in replacement costs: 22 White touring cars, 27 White TEB buses, 26 White model 15-45 buses, six trucks and several other vehicles that belonged to the Yellowstone Park Camping Company.
The Yellowstone Park Transportation Company was left with few options as the summer season and tourists were fast approaching. President of the company, Harry Child, made a call the next day to Walter White, the president of White Motor Company in Cleveland.
“Child told White he needed 90 replacement vehicles and they had to be available in time for the opening of the 1925 tourist season,” the social media post reads. “White, determined that the park would not suffer from lack of vehicles in the upcoming season, put on extra work shifts and built the needed 90 vehicles in 59 days. The last vehicle arrived at the Park on June 9, a week before the season opened.”
A new and modern concrete garage complex was already under construction near Gardiner, Montana, before the fire. A push to complete the garage allowed the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company to move its headquarters there just before the 1925 summer season began. According to the Preservation Trust, this complex is still being used today.
