The Fire on Cedar Cree\ 



507 



to size up the situation, Johnson re- 

 turned to camp and radioed Loitved, 

 asking him to make certain the new 

 foremen coming in on both ridges 

 were properly guided and fully in- 

 structed that their boss was Freeman 

 and that either Freeman or Johnson 

 would check in with them on the line 

 shortly after their arrival. Unless some- 

 thing serious had developed on the 

 lower divisions during the night, he, 

 Johnson, wanted to spend the morning 

 on the division of the Cedar Greek Di- 

 vide because that now was the key to 

 buttoning up the fire. 



Loitved told Johnson that he had 

 succeeded in freeing four saw gangs 

 from Snag Flat, instead of two. John- 

 son asked that the two extra gangs be 

 sent in immediately as reinforcements 

 for the hot-shot crew. 



Johnson then talked with Armstrong 

 and Ellsworth and explained the morn- 

 ing situation as he saw it at Cedar 

 Divide and on the upper end of their 

 divisions. He asked that when the 

 crews came on at 10:30 o'clock they 

 send substantial strength of skilled men 

 to those parts of their divisions. The 

 job of putting out scattered spots of 

 fire here was heavy and, further, Free- 

 man might need quick support. 



Work proceeded on Fly and Ant 

 Creeks. The worth of skilled and ear- 

 nest men had proved itself. The fire 

 was checked ; the principal job now was 

 mop-up. The tankers were busy drown- 

 ing out hot embers along the road. Up 

 the slopes, small groups of men 

 equipped with shovels, Pulaskis, and 

 back-pack pumps were similarly en- 

 gaged in watering out and destroying 

 the fire in stumps, logs, and hot embers. 



On the Cedar Creek Divide section, 

 active war was still on, guerilla fash- 

 ion. The edge of the main fire was at 

 the moment no problem, just a job. It 

 was quiet and had been put out on 

 many long stretches of light fuel. It 

 was a job that morning for the fighters 

 who knew how to put out the hot spots 

 remaining and test seemingly cold fire 

 edges with their bare fingers to prove 

 whether hot or cold. If they became 



careless, the hot spots would warm up 

 and be active fire lines before noon. It 

 was a job for experts. Ray, the foreman, 

 assigned three of his hot-shotters to this 

 work with two pick-up laborers apiece 

 as helpers. 



The spot fires in the cliffs were quite 

 a different problem. They were dor- 

 mant except for an occasional blazing 

 log. The banked-in smoke cut visibility 

 to a few yards. These fires had to be 

 ferreted out by men who clambered 

 around in the cliffs. The location work 

 of the night before by Freeman and his 

 scouts was so effective that all men 

 were placed quickly on active fires. 

 The scouts proceeded to search for 

 dormant fires and at 9 o'clock two look- 

 outs were placed to keep watch over 

 the most doubtful areas. The pack 

 train moved in water and still more 

 water as fast as they could. 



Shouts were heard : "Hey, Pete, look 

 across the gulch; you've got a sleeper 

 there." Two boys borrowed a rope 

 from the packer and let themselves and 

 water down the cliff to the spot fire. 



Ray moved through the cliffs among 

 his men, observing, encouraging, teach- 

 ing. Small wonder that his crew was 

 good. Freeman's scouts were diligent. 

 Freeman checked the job. It looked as 

 if Ray's boys had the job in hand. 

 Came 9 : 30 o'clock, and a lifting in the 

 smoke pall. Not an unlocated smoke 

 finger could be seen. Ray and Freeman 

 met, dirty and smoke-blackened, and 

 grinned at each other. "By golly, 

 Jingles, I believe we made it again." 

 "Yep," said Freeman. "What did you 

 expect? I've got to be back on the job 

 in the morning." 



Ten o'clock the deadline hour. 

 Johnson had checked the tractor and 

 hand-line jobs. They looked good. The 

 10:30 crews could mop up, and there 

 would be strength enough if an after- 

 noon flare-up occurred. He met Free- 

 man and heard his story. 



Wearily, they sat down and sent a 

 radio message to Armstrong and Ells- 

 worth : "Lots of mop-up, but no threats 

 to the line." 



Another message went to the Cedar 



