Fighting Fires from the Air 



to present-day standards. They had as- 

 sembled their protective clothing from 

 whatever they could get football 

 padding, baseball masks, and such. 

 They had only the standard emergency 

 parachutes. So equipped, they were 

 at the mercy of the elements. 



Their first jumps were aimed at soft, 

 grassy meadows high on the mountain- 

 side. Such sites are few in the wilder- 

 ness forests, and the original concept 

 of the possibilities of jumping was re- 

 stricted to that limitation. Then, dur- 

 ing some trial jumps, a gust of wind 

 chanced to carry a jumper away from 

 the meadow and slammed him down 

 into a thicket of tall trees, the accident 

 that all had dreaded. The jumper, 

 swinging lightly down from the spring- 

 like branches, reported the most gentle 

 landing he had experienced. There- 

 after, jumpers attempted purposely to 

 land in green trees, which they call 

 "feathers." 



Eleven fire seasons have passed and 

 a war has been won since those first 

 timber jumps. The smokejumpers, as 

 they are now called, have had an im- 

 portant part in both. 



From the group that pioneered the 

 first jumps, the crew of smokejumpers 

 has grown to an organization of 225 

 men, many of them college students of 

 forestry. Stationed in squads at stra- 

 tegic points through the Northwest, 

 the men perform a spectacular and 

 dangerous task. I believe that they ac- 

 complish more actual fire protection 

 for each dollar spent than any other 

 department or phase of the fire-control 

 activity in the northern Rockies. 



Protective clothing has been de- 

 signed to prevent injury from sharp 

 tree limbs and rocks. Maneuverable 

 parachutes have been invented, de- 

 signed, and redesigned for maximum 

 safety. Opening of the parachute is 

 made automatic by use of a static-line 

 ripcord. Slotted canopies and guide 

 lines permit considerable control over 

 direction and speed of descent. 



A rigorous course of calisthenics, 

 low jumps, and exercises on the ground 

 and over hurdles and obstacles toughen 



their muscles, train them to be agile, 

 and teach them how to fall, and de- 

 velop the smokechasers into skilled 

 parachutists. The smokejumpers, after 

 they have been thoroughly trained, 

 travel 140 miles an hour in airplanes 

 and reach a point above a fire in the 

 most inaccessible wilderness in a matter 

 of minutes after it is reported. They 

 bail out 1,500 feet above ground in 

 numbers consistent with the need of 

 the job to be done and land within 

 yards of the embryo fire. Tools, rations, 

 radio-phone, and all other necessary 

 equipment follow by parachute. Un- 

 like the first smokechaser who reached 

 a fire weary from walking many miles, 

 the jumpers are fresh and alert when 

 they attack their fire. They have had 

 a chance to observe the fire and sur- 

 rounding area from above and have 

 knowledge of its probable course. They 

 know that fellow- jumpers are available 

 as reinforcements within an hour or so. 



Smokejumping is dangerous. It is no 

 job for the timid or physically unsound. 

 The men risk their lives with each 

 jump, but it is a calculated risk, taken 

 in the interest of saving an essential re- 

 source. Some accidents have occurred. 

 Some bones have been broken, and 

 jumpers have returned over mountain 

 trails on stretchers carried by their 

 comrades, but in thousands of jumps 

 over hazardous terrain, no one has been 

 permanently injured or killed. Jumps 

 by squads of 2 to 100 men have been 

 made in the most remote sections of 

 Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washing- 

 ton, California, and New Mexico. 



During the war, the smokejumper 

 organization helped the Air Force by 

 training para-doctors and providing 

 the specially designed jumping equip- 

 ment that is essential to precision para- 

 chuting. This service helped save many 

 lives when military craft had crashed 

 in inaccessible locations. The coopera- 

 tion with the Air Force is still active. 

 Search and rescue specialists are being 

 trained each year at the smokejumper 

 base near Missoula, Mont. 



A civilian physician in Helena, 

 Mont., similarly trained, jumps with 



