368 ANNUAI> REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



summer rainfall has been, in most National Forest regions, reasonably 

 good, and there is every indication that when the present season 

 closes the Forests will have suffered little harm. 



That lires are doing so little damage this year is, however, not solely 

 due to improved weather conditions. A marked advance has been 

 made in the protective system. While it would be altogether unsafe 

 to say that, if the Forest Service were confronted again with the con- 

 ditions which arose in 1910, the disastrous fires of that year would be 

 im])()ssible, it is certainly true that the Service is much better pre- 

 pared to keep down the losses under any ordinary conditions, and that 

 jt has made appreciable progress toward tlie point at which the 

 National Forests will be, humanly speaking, safe against great losses. 



An analogy has often been pointed out between protecting forests 

 and protectmg cities against fire. This analogy is worth reiterating. 

 City property can not be made reasonably safe unless there are: First, 

 regulations to lessen the fire risk in the form of building ordinances, 

 rules regarding combustibles, etc.; secondly, a considerable invest- 

 ment in signals, fire-fighting apparatus, and quarters; and thirdly, 

 an adequate and well-organized force of disciplined men suitably 

 located. So forests must be guarded against causes of fire and con- 

 ditions favorable to its spread, must be equipped with means for 

 discovering, reporting, and reaching fires, and must be manned with 

 a reliable body of firefighters, stationed at the points of greatest 

 need. 



With large parts of the National Forests (and those the most 

 rugged and mountainous parts) unoccupied and pathless wilderness, 

 close patrol and quick access to fires by sufficient forces of fire 

 fighters are impossible. Yet these wilderness regions contain enor- 

 mous timber supplies which, though out of reach now, the Government 

 is holding to supply future needs. A demand for this timber will 

 come ^vith exhaustion of the supply in regions where cutting is now 

 active. The Government must either allow this timber to be exposed 

 to a high fire risk or spend considerable sums yearly in protecting land 

 now unproductive. 



The development of a thoroughly efficient system of fire protection 

 is the work of years. It calls for heavy investments in roads, trails, 

 bridges, telephone lines, fire lines, watch towers, and ranger quarters. 

 It calls also, obviously, for a sufficient force of men to insure early 

 detection of fij-es. But it is not enough to provide merely for the 

 quick giving of an alarm. To concentrate quickly upon a fire an 

 experienced and properly equipped force of fire fighters, and to keep 

 them there until the fire is under control, means careful preparation 

 beforehand in order to meet the emergency in the right way. It can 

 not be done on the spur of the moment. 



PROGRESS IN PROTECTION. 



The fires of 1910 were invaluable as a lesson. They made clear 

 what are the most difficult problems of fire fighting under existing 

 co!iditions, and showed what might be done, even under present con- 

 ditions, to better the existing organization. They also aroused a 

 much more vigorous public sentiment against fires, one effect of which 

 has been that when fires occur the fact is widely heralded; and a 

 higher standard of protection is now demanded than ever before. 



