Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-09-08

tom OF patrol the guard who discovers n
| fire communicates quickly to other
guards and to headquarters by telephone.
| signal. or other means and indicates the
number of men he needs.
| THE efficiency of the fre-hghting crew
depends very largely on their skill and OK
pcrionce. and particularly on the skill and
experience of the man directing the
work 1t Is not only n question OF knowl-
| edge Of how to assign ernh man where
| his work viii be most effective but there
must he Judgment exercised In determin-
ing the general method of attack. Tho
character of tho Are, the character of the
, forest, the condition of the atmosphere.
| the strength and direction OF 'hc wind,
! the rapidly with which the fire Is run
ming, and many other points have to be
! taken into consideration"
After describing how surface fires may
| be put out by beating. by throwing sand
or loose earth, and by other methods. the
account goes on:
Sometimes The front of the fire is so
! fierce that it is Impossible to meet It d.
! roctly. One method under such circum-
| stances IL to direct the course of the fire.
The attack IS made on the sides near
|
OF the fire from the main wings A part
of the crew attacks the forward part and
| other" run down aud eXtnguish the
| wings. The front OF the frc, attncltcd
| from tho Sides. Is forced gradually ana
constantly into a narrower path. Usual
! ~ the front can be directed toward some
cleared space. road pond, stream,
swamp, or fire line, when It will he check
I ed enough to admit of direct front at
tack. Sometimes ry this plan the front
may he rapidly narrowed by working
/ from the sides, until II Is at least entire
! iy extinguished. Tho plan Of giving di-
roct!on 20 th" course of the fire has often
/ been successfully carried out when the
falting crew + too small for direct at
tack
"Wlcu fires gain such Roadway that II
ts iurossihle to stop them by direct at
t.,rt rp matter how numerous and 81
ci''t 'Nc crew or complete the equipment
for Geltiup back nroing becomes the
ONLY n.aue of stopping the fires. 1t
.nouId however, hc used only when it
j. absolutely necessary. one of the COM
u.u,-t mistake. I'm 0ghting frcs is to
O., arostimat" tte raplity of the IRE and
the difficulty OF putting It out. a forest
fire Is always a Frightening spectacle,
particularly if II Is sweeping in tho dircc-
ton of ones oVu property. Men often be-
come excited and start back fires when it
IS entirely unnecessary. Back firing ne
cessarly involves deliberately burning
over property. When this belongs - an
other person anil ono. own forest seems
in danger. there is 80 great temptation to
sacrifice it.
"If it is found that back fire is noces-
ga:y, favorable poil.. Is selected direct
~ IN front of the fire from which to set
the new fire. This must be- a point where
it is SAT" TO start back fire. such as n
road. fire line. stream. ol swamp. The
leaves are iEnited at points five feet 70 "a
rod apart for distance not greater than
the estimated width of the head of the
fire. These small fires gradually meet
and form continuous line. eating back
against the wind a part of the crew Is
stationed across the road or other brea *
from which the back fire is started and
put out at once the small fires which may
result from the sparks blown over from
the back fire.
The meeting of the two fires stops at
once the head of the main fire. II Is
usually possible then to attack the wings
| with the ordinary methods of lighting 1t
| is necessary to attack the wings at once,
particularly If there II a strong wind for
otherwise each wing OF the old fire would
soon form an independent fire with n
we'll veloped head 1t is necessary,
also, that a number of men be stationed
where the Original fire and the back fire
meet in order to eXtnguish smoldering
fires In tops logs, ana other debris"
| "A fire Is never out" the bulletin con-