The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1913-11-28

they are being opened up as rapidly as funds
will permit of trails being built yet there Is SO
much area so many other duties are required
of the forest officers and the funds mentioned
are so limited and inadequate that progress OF
such work. while keeping pace with the avail
able resources, is necessarily slow.
Before enlargng upon conditions under wnlcn
large fires begin it might be well TO menuon
briefly few of the forest fire terms with winch
the ayman frequently meets and may not un
derstand.
FOREST fires are classified generally as crown
or ton hres-those where the fire travels through
the tons Of the trees with surprising rapidly ana
working disastrous results; and ground or sur
face fires where the fire travels along the
ground consuming soil covers or humus brush
and litter seedlings and often small trees and
commemorative doing little or no damage TO ma
ture timber Luckily, in most cases forest nres
arc Ground fires and 1t is these that are the
most quickly controlled. Yet single top nre
can cause vastly more damage than great
! number of ground fires However, 1t is general
" under unusual conditions that crown or top
| fires occur-such as high winds, very bushy or
/ +aan country and severe drought, when such
conditions can in an incredibly short time change
creeping ground fire into sweeping crown
fire leaving path of ruin and often death IN It's
/ wake In brief, drought and WIND are the TWO
dominant conditions favorable to severe nres'
| The wind is always the most dreaded factor
| during the fire season, its freakishness and I'M
| certainty upsetting the best OF plans. So nerce
| vas the wind at the time of the destructive hres
| of 1910 that whole hillsides of timber were up
! rooted and men were forced out OF their saddles
| The fire leaped across rivers half mile wide
! at single bound, travelling nearly mile MN
uta at times and devouring everything IN It's
nath Often wide canyons were spanned as py
great Jump the fire continuing on the oppo-
site side and leaving the canyon timber green
! and unframed. Numerous instances OF the ao-
soluta freakishness of the fire could be cited,
and all tend to show its very uncertainty
In fighting a fire there is constructed around
| tho burning area what is called a fire line or
trencb This consists of clearing away all debris
and brush. generally for three or four feet
though wider when conditions allow or warrant
n and exposing the mineral soil for one or two
feet or wider as necessary An ordinary ground
i. fire Unframed by strong wind. will die out on
reaching the strip of mineral soil, often as effect
rauv as IL the line were a stream OF water
When the fire is moving slowly and men can
stand the heat and smoke il is always desirable
10 build the trench close to the fire so as 70
| prevent it's gaining momentum as it progresses
but where the fire is travelling quite rapidly
! often the fire line has to be placed some dis
lance away from the FIRE, and where adequate
natrol or supervision is assured the burned ma
terial on the inside Of the line is fired in order
~ meet the advancing fire and destroy the in
Aammable material in its path Backhring as
this Is called is generally used only in al
emergency and by experienced hands. often, o
course where the fire is severe, strips Of timber