The above pictures of the great forest fire of 1957 were extracted from news film shot by WBZ-TV Channel 4  Photographer Nat Whittemore.  The fire started near the corner of Cranberry Road and West Line Road on the Carver side of the Myles Standish Reservation at about 3:00 pm on May 8th.  By the time the fire was declared under control at 8:39 pm on May 10th,  the fire had reached the Atlantic Ocean some 12 miles from where it started, consumed 18,000 acres,  50 structures,  and had a 35 mile perimeter!  More than 2,500 firefighters from 64 communities fought the blaze.

The Video footage from the fire (572K)*