The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1910-08-23
} EIaArINe FOREST Fires.

Z s. $50 FiGff TING GFOHESt FIXES.
4 4 With forest fires causing. greater.
K obstruction than during any year in
history peculiar interest attaches to
I pamphlet on that subject by Chief
Henry s. Graves, of the Forest Ser
vice. Mr.. Graves takes up the whole
subject OF the causes and characters
= tics of the fires and the best means
of fighting them. City dwellers with
their steam engines and high power
Il water supply will find in the pamphlet
a strong contrast In the equipment
maintained and means employed in
the great forests OF the west.
wherever dirt can be used" he
says, men should be provided with
long handled shovels. II water is
available. buckets should be provided
and, where possible, bucket pumps,
which throw stream about 20 feet.
4 Under most conditions it is desirable
K to have mattucks and iron rakes, and
there should always be axes to aid in
clearing brush or cutting through
& down timber or old tops. These i'm.
plements should be kept In convent.
emit place for fighting fire. Proper or
ganization for this protection includes
an adequate equipment for the fire.
fighting force.
"a very good plan is to have caches
at convenient points on the trails or
att the lookout stations, containing.
u firefghting tools. In some cases in
& the mountain regions tools are kept
in a special pack outfit ready to be
thrown upon horses and taken at once
to. the fire: Such special outfits usu-
ally include shovels, collapsible pals.
q axes. mattocks, ropes and In some
cases fire extinguishers and small
quantity Of provisions"
AS to the methods of fighting fires
a Graves says:
Small surface fires may often be
beaten out. This is possible when the
fire is burning chiefly in dry leaf
litter or short grass. Where there
are tops or piles of dry brush. or the
fire, Is burning through thick brush or
underground, beating is very difficult.
There are various devices for beat.
ing. A blanket, coat, or riding slick
!, II err Is often used, A gunny sack is one
44of the best implements for beating
= particularly If 1t can be wet from
time to time. A handful of green
brush serves also very well for a beat.
ing device. In beating out fire, one
strikes the fire with sideways sweep.
driving the flames and material back
upon the burned ground. A direct
stroke scatters the fire.
The best way to extinguish run.
ming fires is to throw sand upon the
flames. This method is. of tecourse,
practicable only when the soil is fair.
ly clear OF rocks and loose enough for
ready digging. When the fire is run.
ming In the open woods, in pine need.
les. single shoveful OF sand, prop.
erly thrown, will extinguish over 10
feet of fire.
Loose loan is also very good, but
not SO effective as sand. Heavy soil
which clods is difficult 10 manipulate.
Frequently sand or loose loan can be
i' dug up in snots. but 1t is too stony to
Y; secure 1t all along the line OF fire.
Fighters must then supplement the
II! use OF sand or earth with beating, or
other methods.
Where, on account. of the accumil.
lated debris. the flames are intermit-
tently. too severe for beating, water is
used II available. Water usually has
to be brought from some distance;'i II
1nust therefore be used very cconom.
ically. The best way Is to deaden the
flames by little water, and then
beat them out with gunny sack or
other device.
when water must be brought over
mountain trails special water sacks
are used, which can be slung on pack
saddle.
n Ground fires, burning in the deer
layer of organic matter, are exceed
ingly difficult to 'extinguish. II the
layer is deep, trenching is the only
practical method of stopping the
progress of the fire. Such trench
which has width at the bottom Of
one foot. will enable the fighters to
stop an ordinary ground fire, especial
ly II the work can be supplemented
by the use of water or sand at the
q trench.
Grown fires which burn through
the crowns of trees, are always &C
.companied by surface fires. Grown
fires stop when there are no Longer
inflammable crowns through which
the fire viii run. or when there is nj
longer any material on the ground tt
Garry the surface fire. An ordinar!
crown fire will jump wide fire line
and many fires have been known t
cross wide rivers almost withoI
check. In, the mountains, crown
fire running up slope is almost i'm
possible to check.
@on level ground 1t is possible t.
stop crown fires by back firing. whel
the conditions are such as TO max,
back firing possible at ALL Thus II
y the pine forests OF the Atlantic coas
crown fires are frequertly checked b
back firing. The back fire burns q