272 THE PRINCIPLES OF HANDLING WOODLANDS 



Special fire-lines may be classed under the following 

 heads: (a) Fully cleared lines; (b) tree-cleared lines; (c) 

 ground-cleared lines. 



Fully Cleared Lines. The ideal fire-line is a com- 

 pletely cleared strip, from which are removed not only 

 the trees and brush, but also all ground debris down to 

 the mineral soil. 



Fully cleared lines are advisable when the risk of fire 

 is very great and adequate protection can be secured only 

 by having a clear break, which will either stop or check 

 possible fires. Such lines are necessarily expensive to 

 construct and maintain. They are, therefore, used only 

 when the property is valuable and the damage from a fire 

 would be very great, as, for example, to protect nurseries, 

 plantations, or valuable blocks of timber. 



They are especially necessary wherever fire will run 

 swiftly and it may not be possible to reach the fire 

 promptly with fighting appliances. A conspicuous 

 example of the necessity of such fire-lines and of the 

 service rendered by them is found in the chaparral 

 forests of the mountains in southern California. (Fig. 

 58.) The preservation of the chaparral cover is of 

 great importance in protecting the local watersheds. 

 The area is large, the mountains are rough and difficult 

 to travel, and fire runs with great rapidity. Fire-lines 

 are very necessary in such localities to control any fires 

 that may start, and they must be of a character to stop 

 fires, or to check them to such an extent that they can be 

 controlled. The Government is, therefore, building 



