It was on Labor Day 1955 (Sept. 5) when a fire broke out near Merrill Flat, south of Eagle Lake. The cause, a lightning storm hit the area. Conditions were extremely dry, the worst since 1924. The fire spread rapidly towards Eagle Lake and it even reached the shoreline and destroyed a cabin and barn at the Eagle Lake Resort. Over 800 men were recruited to fight the fire. Just as Mother Nature was responsible for the fire, it helped extinguished it with a light rain fall on September 8. In all, 19,000 acres was consumed by the fire.