In local news this hour, smoke jumper Ernest Crowley of Capital City died last night after a two-year fight with cancer. Crowley, who was 88, was one of the original smoke jumpers, firefighters who parachute into wilderness forest fires to try and put them out. On his first-ever smoke jump, Crowley's parachute lines became tangled and he landed in a tree. Nonetheless, he and a partner were able to control the fire by the following morning. Their feat marked the beginning of the national smoke jumpers program, and Crowley later became the organization's first superintendent. His career wasn't flawless; in 1959 he directed the crew battling the famous Morgan's Gulch fire, in which 10 smoke jumpers lost their lives. Crowley never forgot that tragedy, but his confidence didn't waver. "I don't know why," he once said, "but I was never afraid to jump." A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the St. Thomas Cathedral. Mr. Crowley is survived by his wife, Ruth, sons Tim and Ryan, and daughter Julia, as well as four grandchildren.
