AIRPLANE FOREST FIRE PATROL IN CALIFORNIA 



BY R. F. HAMMATT 



THE first organized and sustained airplane forest 

 fire patrol ever attempted in the United States (or 

 elsewhere, so far as is now known ) was inaugurated 

 on June i, 1919, in California. The work was undertaken 

 at the request of the Federal Forest Service. It was 

 performed — and is still being performed — by the Air 

 Service Branch of the War Department, with Air Service 

 personnel and equipment, and at Air Service expense. Its 

 aim, in addition to providing the training, practice and 

 ex])erience which must be given the personnel, was to see 

 how efficiently forest fires might be (a) discovered, (b) 

 located, and (c) reported to the Forest Service organi- 

 zation. Six patrol routes, covering National Forest areas 

 of high values, w'ere laid out. and twice each day six 

 Curtis J. N. D. planes covered the better part of some 

 six million acres of rough, mountainous, heavily timbered 

 country. The average non-stop run was 160 miles — the 

 average round trip, 320 miles. 



For the months of June, July, and August uninter- 



rujited dail_\- service was continued. A total of 745 fiights 

 covered 92,605 miles, and discovered, located and report- 

 ed a total of 118 fires — 23 of them being both discovered 

 and reported in advance of the regular Forest Service 

 detection organization, which was still on the job. The 

 only reason, apparently, why more fires were not report- 

 ed first by the air patrol was because neither ships nor 

 ground stations were equijjped with wireless. Pint be- 

 fore discussing this matter, as well as other valuable 

 services rendered by the Air Patrol, let me give you, 

 rather roughly, some of the conditions surrounding the 

 work, and a little idea of the extension and reorganization 

 of the patrol during the month of August. 



Landing fields at the end of each patrol were jjrovided. 

 in each case, by the city or town authorities or by some 

 local boost organization. To be satisfactory, such fields 

 had to be level or with a constant grade not over three 

 ])er cent, smooth enough that a Ford could be run over 

 them at 25 miles an hour, 2,000 feet long, and 600 to 800 



Photograph from ]Vcstcrn Nczvspapcr Union 



HOW UNCLE SAM FIGHTS FOREST FIRES FROM THE AIR 



How tlie forest looks from the air. This is what the observer continually sees until suddenly he spies the dreaded puff of smoke. He 

 immediately uses his wireless and flashes the alarm to put the machinery of forest fire control into action. 



