Fighting Fires from the Air 



513 



situation surely would have meant a 

 big, costly fire; now it is practically a 

 routine affair. 



Within minutes of the observer's re- 

 port, the jumper plane from head- 

 quarters points its nose into the direc- 

 tional bearing plotted by the patrol 

 observer. As it climbs for elevation on 

 its direct course to the fire, five young 

 men quickly get into their padded, 

 white, strongly made jumping cover- 

 alls under the watchful eye of a jump- 

 master or spotter. Dressing and don- 

 ning their harness in the restricted 

 space inside a plane, which is pitching 

 in the turbulent air like a Montana 

 bronc at a rodeo, is no simple task, but 

 when the jumpers have done so, a com- 

 plete check of rigging is made by the 

 spotter. By that time the plane is near 

 the fire. 



The jump ship swings wide around 

 the fire as the spotter and jumpers 

 orient themselves as to the nearest trail 

 on which to return, survey the geogra- 

 phy and forest conditions around the 

 smoke, and check on the best jumping 

 sites. One site appears most suitable, 

 and the pilot crosses directly over it, 

 1,500 feet above the trees. The spotter 

 drops a drift chute, a 36-inch proto- 

 type of the real chutes. Its drift from 

 a true vertical descent is recorded, and 

 the spotter calculates the adjustments 

 necessary in dropping his men. 



The ship is maneuvered accordingly. 

 When it is over the desired spot, the 

 five men leap in quick succession from 

 the door. The chutes pop like large 

 firecrackers as the static line jerks them 

 open. They fall rapidly in a downdraft, 

 then catch in dead air, and perhaps 

 drift rapidly off to the side for a mo- 

 ment. By that time, the jumper has 

 checked his canopy and lines and is 

 getting ready to land. He is confident, 

 unafraid, because months of training 

 have given him the skill that is essential 

 if he is to land where he wishes and 

 without injury. He closes one 7-foot 

 slot in the chute and turns to face the 

 direction he wishes to travel. If the 

 wind is drifting him past the target, 

 he collapses the canopy and plummets 



802062 49 34 



closer to the ground. If he is offside, 

 he tips the chute and planes in the 

 desired direction. He has selected a 

 bushy clump of trees, and as he plows 

 through the trees, the nylon shroud 

 lines and canopy tangle with the top- 

 most branches and brings him to a 

 gentle, bouncing stop. As he swings, 40 

 feet above the log- and boulder-strewn 

 ground surface, he produces a light 

 cotton rope from a pocket in his canvas 

 jumper suit and attaches it to the chute 

 rigging. Detaching himself from the 

 harness, he descends on the rope. 

 Another minute and he is free of the 

 jumping regalia, and with a bright 

 yellow ribbon of crepe paper he lays 

 out a signal that indicates in code to 

 the plane that all is well. The plane 

 circles low and drops packages con- 

 taining complete fire-fighting equip- 

 ment, radio, rations, and drinking 

 water. Some packages hang up in tall 

 trees but are retrieved through the use 

 of telephone-climber spurs dropped 

 with the jumpers. 



Within 5 or 10 minutes more, the 

 fire is being attacked by the well- trained 

 men, who, conditioned like athletes, are 

 free from the travel fatigue that weak- 

 ened the old-time ground force before 

 it struck the first blow. 



Such action by smoke jumpers has 

 stopped, at small size and low cost, 

 hundreds of fires, which, in the ab- 

 sence of aerial attack, would have 

 raged over mountain and valley. 



THE LOCATION AND BEHAVIOR of a 



fire must be known by the men who 

 plan the attack. To get the information 

 by use of foot travel would take 4 

 hours, maybe 12. During that time the 

 fire would move on, conditions would 

 change, and the tardy reports would 

 be inaccurate. To meet this problem, 

 aerial scouting has been developed to 

 a high degree of dependability. 



A scout plane is put into action im- 

 mediately after a fire "blows up." The 

 plane circles the fire, and a photogra- 

 pher-scout takes pictures of all sides at 

 an angle of about 45 degrees. He photo- 

 graphs also the area ahead of the fire. 



