HOW THE FIRES WERE FOUGHT 



By F, A, SILCOX 

 Assistant District Forester, District 1, U, S. Forest Service 



(Forests in District i were the scene of the terrific fires which, in the absence of 

 sufficient trails and equipment for communication and fire fighting, were swept beyond 

 control by the cyclonic winds of August 20 and 21 and, besides devastating some of 

 the finest virgin timber in the country, cost the lives of seventy-four of the temporary 

 force, injured many other persons, destroyed many millions of dollars worth of property, 

 and lost to industry hundreds of thousands of dollars more in wages. Every cir- 

 cumstance which attended the origin and behavior of these fires proved beyond all 

 doubt the ability of the Forest Service completely to protect the National Forests as soon as 

 the Forests arc fully equipped and manned for protection — and not before. — Ed.) 



CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY 



District One of the Forest Service, 

 with headqtiarters at Missoula, Mon- 

 tana, inchtdes all of the National For- 

 ests in the panhandle of Idaho and in 

 Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, 

 and Michigan. It includes 28 National 

 Forests with an aggregate area of 

 29,918,043 acres. The main continental 

 range, from whose crest the rain and 

 snow waters make their way westward 

 to the Pacific and eastward to the Gulf, 

 divides the district into two natural di- 

 visions. A striking contrast exists in 

 the type and character of the country 

 on the east and west of the divide ; and 

 this contrast has such a vital bearing 

 upon the fire situation that in order to 

 understand the great fires of the past 

 summer and the difficulties encountered 

 in controlling them, a clear picture of 

 the respective types of country is essen- 

 tial. 



East of the divide the timbered areas 

 are broken by open parks, the solid 

 bodies of timber being confined mainly 

 to the north slopes. The predominat- 

 ing species, lodgepole pine, although 

 forming extremely dense thickets in 

 early life, opens up somewhat as the 

 stands grow older and carry little un- 

 derbrush. The red fir and yellow pine 

 types are open stands in which little 

 undergrowth is found and through 

 which travel is fairly easy. In this type 



of country it is possible to travel at a 

 fairly rapid rate, either on foot or with 

 horses, by working through the timber 

 and open parks and along the bald 

 ridges. 



SLOWNESS OF TRAVEL 



In striking contrast is the country 

 west of the divide, which includes in 

 this district Northwestern Montana 

 and Northern Idaho. Heavy dense 

 timber with heavy undergrowth and 

 with very few, widely scattered moun- 

 tain meadows, is the characteristic type 

 of country. The predominating spe- 

 cies are Western white pine, cedar, 

 larch, fir, and hemlock, all of which 

 grow in dense stands and through 

 which, both on account of the under- 

 brush and wind fallen timber, travel 

 with a horse is, without trails, a physi- 

 cal impossibility, and by foot, with a 

 pack on one's back, a most arduous and 

 tedious task. 



Where open areas occur and travel is 

 possible, even without trails, as in the 

 forests of Eastern Montana, fires can 

 be controlled if sufficient patrol is main- 

 tained during the dry season, largely 

 because the fires can be reached shortly 

 after being discovered. The best proof 

 of this is the fact that no fires of any 

 size got beyond control even during the 

 very dry and windy season just closed, 

 east of the divide. Many fires occurred, 



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