THE GREATEST ENEMY OF THE FOREST FIRE 59 



towers, which overlook large areas of forest, 

 watch constantly for smoke, and as soon as they 

 locate signs of fire they notify the supervisor of 

 the forest. Lookouts use special scientific instru- 

 ments which enable them to locate the position of 

 the fires from the smoke. At the supervisor's 

 headquarters and the ranger stations scattered 

 through the forests, equipment, horses and auto- 

 mobiles are kept ready for instant use when a 

 fire is reported. Telephone lines and radio sets 

 are used to spread the news about fires that have 

 broken out. 



From five thousand to six thousand forest 

 fires occur each year in the National Forests of 

 our country. To show how efficient the forest 

 rangers are in fighting fires, it is worthy of note 

 that by their prompt actions, 80 per cent, of these 

 fires are confined to areas of less than ten acres 

 each, while only 20 per cent, spread over areas 

 larger than ten acres. Lightning causes from 25 

 to 30 per cent, of the fires. The remaining 70 or 75 

 per cent, are classed as "man-caused fires, " which 

 are set by campers, smokers, railroads, brush 

 burners, sawmills and incendiaries. The total an- 

 nual loss from forest fires in the Federal forests 

 varies from a few hundred thousands of dollars in 



