A 73-year-old California woman who worked as a spotter monitoring wildfires from U.S. Forest Service towers in Siskiyou County died in the McKinney fire, officials said.
Kathy Shuppman’s first post was in 1974 at Baldy Mountain in the Klamath National Forest, just west of the small town of Happy Camp, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement. She continued to serve the Buckhorn and Lake Mountain observation posts.
For nearly 50 years, Schupman lived in Klamath River (population 200), a town that was almost completely destroyed by fire. Homes, including those in a trailer park, a community hall and several other businesses were destroyed. “This fire came down on the community with 60 to 70 mph winds,” said Tom Stokesberry, public affairs specialist for the U.S. Forest Service’s northern fire services. “We share this grief with each of you and know that individually and as the supportive community that we are, we will find many ways to honor Kathy’s life and service and keep her spirit alive in all of our lives,” the Forest Service said in a Facebook post honoring Shoopman.
A landscape of the Klamath National Forest, near Mount Shasta in California.
Leonid Andronov/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Stokesberry said he believes Schupman was trying to evacuate when she died, but the circumstances surrounding her death are still under investigation.
“When the fire made its first push, she was trapped in her home,” Stokesbury said.
The monitors work in shifts in towers that are located on high peaks and rise above forests at risk of wildfires. Their job is to identify fires when they first start and are small and easy to put out.
“She was one of the best,” Stokesbury said. “She is a legend in the watch community. Not only was she able to identify fires, but she could locate them with extreme accuracy.
A landscape of the Klamath National Forest, near Mount Shasta in California.
Zach Frank/Getty Images/500px
The McKinney fire, now the state’s largest this year, ignited near the California-Oregon border on July 29, quickly exploding into a raging monster that killed four people, including Schupman. It destroyed more than 100 homes while tearing through 60,379 acres; it is 40% contained as of Monday.
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