A Burning Ring of Fire?
On June 27, 1965, the Adobe Fire, which burned 508 acres in the Los Padres National Forest, was started by Johnny Cash during a fishing trip with his nephew Damon Fielder. Today, we are sharing the fire report from our collections of the Los Padres National Forest that details the location of the fire, how it started, how it was suppressed, and the damage it caused.
Although information in the fire report states that a faulty exhaust on Mr. Cash’s vehicle was to blame for the fire, his nephew believed otherwise. Mr. Fielder’s version of the story was that his uncle started a fire to stay warm and did not notice that it was burning out of control.
In addition to the damage documented in the fire report, 49 of 53 of the forest’s endangered California condors were killed. Mr. Cash was sued in Federal court for the damages caused in the Adobe Fire and settled for $82,000.
Series: Fire Reports, 1911-1985. Record Group 95, Records of the Forest Service, 1870-2008. (National Archives Identifier 40978265). https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40978265






