774 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



The fighting of the large forest fires of the Northwest is seriously 

 hampered by "spot fires," fires caused by wind-carried sparks, some 

 mile or more in advance of the main fire. Lookouts have been used 

 to some extent in attempting to watch for these spot fires, but to little 

 success. Their fixed position and long oblique view through the 

 smoke screen has lessened their efifectiveness. The airplane can go 

 directly to any part of the fire and, looking down vertically with the 

 light rays, can see more clearly through the smoke. This is found to 

 be of great advantage in handling a large fire. 



The disadvantages of the airplane from a detective point of view 

 consist mainly in the fact that it passes over a given area but once or 

 twice a day. while the lookout is always on the job, so to speak. The 

 inability of the airplane to fly effectively directly following thunder- 

 storms, due to the low clouds, is another disadvantage which is, how- 

 ever, made up by the lookout who, while shut in to a large extent by 

 the clouds, can get an occasional glimpse of the country through rifts 

 in the cloud screen. 



Before the patrol actually started operations, it was thought by many 

 that accurate location of a fire could not be obtained from the airplane, 

 due to the lack of adequate maps. While the lack of detail and ac- 

 curacy in the maps used, which were the best obtainable, did interfere 

 to some extent, fair accuracy in location could be secured, however. 

 The observers were given ample opportunity to learn their routes be- 

 fore the fire season started. By so doing over 90 per cent of the 

 fires discovered by the Oregon patrol were reported within a quarter 

 of a mile of their actual location as checked by the one in charge of 

 fighting the fire. 



The speed of the patrol, promptness in reporting, and general utility 

 are shown by the fact that the Oregon Patrol sighted 720 fires out of 

 a possible 1,100, and that of the 720 sighted, 465 received credit for 

 first report. The number of first reports received by the patrol in 

 •districts which were adequately covered by the lookout system was 

 much lower; in the districts where the lookout system was not devel- 

 oped, the aerial patrol was the chief reliance. 



The effect of the aerial patrol is not solely confined to detection. 

 Without a doubt its value as a publicity unit for forestry has never 

 been equaled. Everybody was interested in the patrol, people came 

 for miles to visit the bases and look over the ships and other equipment. 

 This resulted in a decided moral effect which was shown in the greater 

 care exercised by people in the woods in regard to fires. Ranchers 



