Machines and Fires in the South 



and fires that burned from outside the 

 national forests and were simply held 

 at the boundary.) 



In assessing these data, it should be 

 remembered that had manpower only 

 been available in 1946 and 1947 the 

 results would have been poorer than 

 those of 1940. Crews then and now 

 would have to be recruited from dis- 

 tant towns, scattered farms, sawmills, 

 and logging camps at a greater cost of 

 time in reaching the fires. 



The seven ranger districts covered 

 in the analysis contain 1,133,000 pro- 

 tected acres. On them, an average of 

 1,074 fires occur each year. Twenty- 

 eight plow units are assigned to them, 

 at a rate of one unit to 40,500 acres 

 and 38 fires. The investment in trac- 

 tors, plows, transport, and radio for 

 the units was $124,000, and the annual 

 depreciation of the equipment was 

 about $10,000. 



The cost per fire, 5 acres or over in 

 size, fought with power equipment in 

 1947 was: Depreciation, $9.31 ; opera- 

 tion and repair, $3.75 ; and pay of crew 

 for suppression, mop-up, and travel 

 time, $13.91 or a total of $26.97. 



On the basis of past experience in 

 manpower requirements and present- 

 day wages, it would have cost $52 a 

 fire to have fought these fires with men 

 and hand tools alone. The direct sav- 

 ing by using machinery was $25.03 a 

 fire, or $15,694 for the 627 fires. 



Comparing the burned acreage re- 

 sulting from like fires fought under the 

 two methods of suppression, we find 

 that if the same 1941 supply of man- 

 power had been available and used on 

 the 1947 fires, 65,700 more acres would 

 have been lost than were actually 

 burned when machines were used. 

 What the additional fire damage to 

 timber and young trees would have 

 been is speculative ; our estimates show 

 it would exceed $3 an acre, or a total 

 of $200,000. 



Less assessable values, such as the 

 effects on water, soil, wildlife, and 

 recreation, were not estimated. Other 

 intangible gains from the mechaniza- 

 tion are increased public support for 



ANALYSIS OF SIZE OF FIRES ON SEVEN 

 RANGER DISTRICTS IN THE SOUTH, 

 UNDER VARIOUS CONTROL METHODS, 

 1940, 1946, 1947 



Average size of fires 



Hand-tool 



control 



-*^ 



1940 



Plow control 



19462 



1947 3 



Size at Size at Size at 



begin- begin- begin- 



Class ning of Final ning of Final ning of Final 

 fire day attack size attack size attack size 



Acres Acres Acres Acres Acres Acres 



3 23.0 57.2 14.4 28.7 II. o 23.2 



4 45-6 93-7 i?-7 36.5 12.9 27.2 



5 49. 8 422. 2 22. i 67. 9 16. o 49. 5 



1 Based on records of 315 fires. 



2 Based on records of 526 fires. 

 a Based on records of 627 fires. 



PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL FIRES REACHING 

 CLASS D AND CLASS E SIZE 



[By hand-tool and plow suppression] 



Class D size Class E size 



(100-300 acres) (over 300 acres) 



Hand 



Class tools 

 fire day 1940 



Plows 



1946 



Hand Plows 

 s tools ' " 



1947 1940 1946 1947 



Pet. Pet. Pet. Pet. Pet. Pet. 



3 18.6 2.6 0.6 2.0 



4 ii. 2 5.1 i.i 4.0 0.4 0.3 



5 22.5 ii. 2 2.5 16.9 2.8 3.0 



the work of suppressing fires and pre- 

 venting wildfires, and greater con- 

 fidence in the ability of the fire fighters. 



As for the forest rangers, they have 

 found that their small, compact power 

 organization can handle any but the 

 very worst situations. Consequently, re- 

 lieved of the feeling of insecurity and 

 dread of impending disaster, they are 

 free to search out and remove the 

 causes of fires. Morale has improved. 



Benefits from mechanization to the 

 11 States (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, 

 Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North 

 Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, 

 Tennessee, and Texas) in the Southern 

 region reflect generally the extent to 

 which they have acquired equipment 



