Evening star., 1937-07-04
Forest Fires
Destructive
To Wild Life
Carelessness Is Often
Found to Be Cause
of BlaZes.

THE storekeeper ut Mckenzie Bridge
stood In his front yard, anxiolsiy
studying the sky. All around his httie
clearing tan trees raised their stately
heads.
What's wrong" asked the tourist
who drove up just then.
The storekeeper shook his head as
he pointed to the southwest. There's
. thunder cloud coming up there, and
don't like the looks OF It," he ex-
planned IT the lightning should strike
here and start \ FIRE" He made 4
despairing gesture and re-entered the
store.
His anxiety was well founded, for .
forest fire is 4 very terrible thing-far
worse than 4 Are in town. There. an
eficient fire department. properly
equipped with . chemical engine r
hook, ladder and hose. is able to extin-
euish the blaze in = short time after
more or less damage-depending on
the nature Of the fire-has been done.
But when furious flames rush through
the woods and the magnificent trees
frs, pines, cedars and oaks-go crash
ing down, spreading destruction IN
their wake, it is a very different propo-
sition The most that can be hoped
for, then, is to keep the fire under con-
troll.
1t may take thousand or more men
To do this if the FIRE is bad one. The
FIRST thing they do. If there is water
within a thousand feet, is to turn on
the pumps. II there is no water, the
men mark of broad trail around the
burning area. Then, armed with axes,
grub hoes and brush hooks. they start
clearing this trail. Every bit Of under
brush. leaf mold and even the pine
needles must be removed. If there is
snag they cut it down.
A SNAG is dead tree, and it con-
stitutes the greatest source Of
danger in fire fighting. OF course, 1t
burns readily and breaks easily, so that
If the wind happens to be strong its
blrning fragments are often carried 20
a great distance sometimes as much as
: miles, spreading the fire. 1t falls
easily. too, and thus offers the greatest
peril to the fire flghters-that OF being
crushed to death beneath it. Compared
to this the danger of being lost In the
dense underbrush or overcome by heat
or smoke seems small.
They work night and day. but their
best results are accomplished at night,
for the wind usually goes down then,
and there is more moisture in the air.
When the trail is cleared, men are set
to patrol it. lest the fire leap the bounds
and get beyond control again. The
only hope OF extineuishine it lies In a
heavy rain which will thoroughly soak
the ground. A light shower might put
out a blaze in the treetops, but when
the fire gets down into the roots 1t may
xmoulder IS or 20 feet underground
and break out again sometime, perhaps
weeks later.
The far Western States-Montana,
Idaho. Washington, Oregon and Cali
fornia-are the ones that suffer most
from forest fires. Their Summers are
drv. with only an occasional shower.
And it is these showers, thunderstorms
usually, which start some OF the fires.
A few are set on purpose, but most
are caused by carelessness-the toss
ing away of 4 cigarette or match, or
. campfire that hasn't been properly
eXtinR1lished
THE GOVERNMENT, Of course,
tries to prevent these fires. 1t
requires a permit before anv one may
build q campfire in the woods, and
exacts severe penalties II this restric-
ton is ignored. Toward the end OF
the Summer, in late August and Sep
tember. the national forests are closed.
Everywhere at strategic points in the
mountains there are "lookouts"-men
In the forest service whose business it
Is to check every point in their district
every hour in the day and report to
headquarters by telephone. Recently
Rome one has perfected camera
which can be used for survey work.
The pictures 1t takes are very helpful
In locating the exact place of the fire.
But in spite of all these precautions,
every year there are disastrous fires.
Sometimes whole villages are wiped
out, and others have been saved only
BY a sudden shifting OF the wind,
which carried the fire away from
them Often the whole water system
OF = nearby city is imperiled. Always
hundreds Of helpless living creatures,
birds and animals. perish. And thou
sands OF trees, trees which have been
perhaps two or three centuries in
growing, are destroyed. The financial
loss has been estimated to be millions
OF dollars annually
But even that is insignificant when
compared to the desolation wrought.
When one rides through the country
and sees the blackened stumps and
the gaunt skeletons Of the once noble
trees, and knows that it will take
century or more to repair the damage,
he begins to realize the tragedy Of the
forest fire.