Aviator to Detect Forest Fires 



QUITE the latest development in the protection of 

 the forests from tires is the appointment of an 

 aviator to detect any forest fires near llig Trout 

 Lake in Wisconsin. He is L. A. \'ilas, a relative of the 

 late United States Senator William F. \'ilas, of Wis- 

 consin. Using- his hvdroaeroplane and arising from Big 

 Trout Lake, Mr. \ilas in a few minutes can reach an 

 altitude of LI'UU feet and from that height can survey 

 some SdO.OOO acres of forested land. If he detects 

 smoke indicating a fire in the fcjrest he can report in a 

 few minutes more to the State Forestry headquarters for 

 the district and in a very short space of time state forest 

 rangers can be ])laced along the line of the lire. 



The use of a flying machine is particularly valuable 

 for this kind of work where the country is flat or where 

 there are no high elevations upon which lookout stations 

 niay be placed. In flat or rolling lands lookout towers 

 enable the observer to guard a territory of rather small 

 area, whereas .\.\-iator \'ilas at the height of l.ooii feet 

 can detect a fire thirty or forty miles away from the lake. 



While appointed b\ the State Forester. .Mr. \'ilas 

 accepts no remuneration, \'olunteering his services. In 

 writing to American I'ori^strv about the work. Air. 

 Vilas says : 



"I greatly a]ipreciate the interest you show in the part 

 the flvin" briat is takiii" in detecting forest fires. The 



machine I am using is a standard Curtis four-passenger 

 flying boat with a Curtis eight-cylinder \' type 100 

 horsepower motor. This machine has an average speed 

 (.f about si-xtv-two miles an hour in the air and forty 

 miles an hour in the water, with a climbing capacity of 

 LOIKI feet in three minutes. At an altitude of 1,000 feet 

 a lire thirtv or fortv miles away is distinctly visible. 



"I usually am flying every evening around six o'clock 

 and I alwavs reach an altitude which enables me to see 

 about fortv miles in e\'ery direction and if I do see indi- 

 cations of fire I can report to the Forestry headquarters 

 at Trout Lake within three minutes." 



E. M. Grit¥ith, who has recently resigned as State 

 Forester of Wisconsin, said: 



"It is generous of Mr. \ilas to oft'er these services to 

 the state without charge. The other day I made an 

 ascent with him and we detected a fire. By communi- 

 cating with the rangers when we came down, we found 

 that it was a settler doing some clearing. The hydro- 

 aero|;ilane will reach the place of a fire in only a few 

 minutes, where otherwise hours would be consumed." 



Mr. X'ilas recently discovered a fire thirt\- nfiles oft' 

 and on investigation it was found that he hail made an 

 accurate estimate of the distance. 



Mr. Griifth said that at an altitude of about 1,000 

 feet it is possil)le to clearly \ iew all of the state forest 



nvi)K<i.Jii':K(.>i'i..\.\i. I .MCI I luK roKKST mki-; i'koi ix tio.n work 



rills m.'iclinir wliicli lias an average speed f)t r,\i miles an liour in the air ami 40 miles on llie v\ater. with a climbing capacitv of l.OOl) 



teet in three minutes is used by L. A. \'ilas wlio lias volunteered his service to protect the forests near Trout Lake. \\'isconsin, 



from hre. At a lieight of l,liOO feet lie can survey yuO.ddt) acres of forested land and iii a few minutes can report any indication 



of a forest tire to the State I-orestry Department headquarters for the tlistrict. 



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