John Bowman

Fire Ranger - John Bowman

In 1937, there was a severe wildfire burning west of the community of Breton, Alberta. Fire Ranger, John Bowman, and over 100 firefighters under his command made an attempt to stop it. The wildfire demonstrated extreme behaviour and on one afternoon, John and his men were surrounded by fire. John told his men that the only path to survival was to run through the flames, so they did. Before John was clear of the flames and danger, he looked back to see a young firefighter had fallen and was in peril. John returned and helped the young man out of the blaze but they both suffered severe burns. The young firefighter survived but John died of his injuries 33 days later in hospital.

History:

John moved to Canada from England in 1908 and after one year working in eastern Canada, he moved to Wenham Valley outside of Breton, Alberta. He served his country in WWI for two years; was wounded in France and returned back to Canada in 1917. For eighteen years, beginning in 1919, John worked for the Dominion Forestry Branch (later known as the Alberta Forest Service) as a Timber Cruiser and Fire Ranger during the summer months.  John and his wife, Ida, had four children including a daughter, Effie. When visited in 2019, Effie was 94 years old. After all the time that had passed since the tragic wildfire in 1937, she still had vivid memories of her Dad. Among those memories was his absence during the summer months while he worked, fighting forest fires, protecting people and communities in Alberta.