Ring of Fire

The movie was shot mostly in and around my hometown, Vernonia, Oregon. I was in sixth grade at the time, and I was an extra, one of the townspeople running to catch the escape train. We would run the length of the town center, then walk back six blocks, and do it over and over again. Andrew Stone, the producer/director had a lot of cooperation from the US Army; in the climactic scene of burning the town, there were flamethrowers on top of all the downtown buildings. I had the misfortune of being outside when a soldier was setting off smoke bombs. I couldn't see one foot in front of me. In the 1920's Vernonia had the largest all-electric sawmill in the world. But they cut down all the trees, and the mill closed in 1957. They completely stocked the mill with new lumber for the movie; then they burned it all down. If anyone is interested, Vernonia Sentry Supermarket sells DVD's of the movie, and they will ship.