FOREST GUIDES DEPARTMENT 



101 



had never been told that there were cheap and 

 safe "rubbish burners to be had for just such 

 purposes. Because he was so ignorant he had 

 done what hundreds of others do every year with 

 bonfires, campfires or even when "cleaning up," 

 he had made a graveyard full of blackened tomb- 

 stones where a forest had stood. Remember the 

 mistakes he made when you have anything to do 

 with such fires. 



A good sportsman, used to the woods all his 

 life and very careful in every way, said: "I was 

 out after rabbits last fall with a new dog and 



while waiting a mo- 



ment for him to jump 

 -nmething, I lit my 

 pipe. Just then he 

 let out a yelp and 

 I went on to see 

 what he had started. 

 He'd found a deer 

 trail and gone off on 

 it and I couldn't call 

 him back, so I turned 

 homeward, and right 

 where I'd lighted my 

 pipe, found a little fire 

 getting under way. Ii 

 was quiet so that I 

 got it out in a short 

 time, but that taught 

 me a lesson, for I've 

 always thought I was 

 as careful as a man 

 could be." If this 

 man's dog had jump- 

 ed a rabbit instead of 

 finding the fresh deer 

 track, there would 

 have been all the de- 

 struction of forest and 

 game which forest fire 

 does, and no one, least 

 of all the man who 

 started it, could have 

 told how it happened. 



People living near the woods or traveling 

 through them should know who these men are 

 and how to reach them just as in a city they 

 should know where the nearest fire alarm box 

 is and how to use it. Do you know who your 

 local forest firewarden is? 



Many States also require every one, setting 

 fire for any purpose near the woods, to 

 secure a permit from a firewarden before 

 doing so. Those who plan to build fires 

 should know whether such permits are needed 

 and get one if they are, to avoid needless un- 

 pleasantness because 

 of unlawful fires. 



HAVE YOU? 

 BY ORVILLE LEONARD 



Have you ever seen the smoke clouds from a 

 forest fire burning? Have you ever lived for 

 hours in that crackling, bright inferno ? Have you 

 had your shoe soles burned off by those dead look- 

 ing white ashes? Have you seen men shouting 

 wildly, though you could not hear their voices for 

 the roar and hiss of leaping flames and the fierce 

 wind they engendered? Have you ever looked 

 down a line all hedged with living fire and won- 

 dered if you'd ever live to feel the cool wind blow- 

 ing? Have you ever seen a rancher driven from 

 his fired homestead, while years of labor on his 

 fields were wiped out in an hour? Have you ever 

 seen a country where the furred and feathered wild 

 things have been burned up, every one? And have 

 you seen that country when the fire fiend has fin- 

 ished the blackened stumps of noble trees, the 

 white ashes, burned bare rocks, no living thing 

 black, deathlike desolation brooding over all? 



If you have, you'll see that your match is out 

 and look where you throw your cigarette. 



SAFETY RULES FOR 

 FOREST FIRES 



To Prevent Them 



1. Never drop light- 

 ed matches or smok- 

 ing materials in the 

 woods or fields or 

 along the roads with- 

 out putting out the 

 match absolutely or 

 stamping the "smoke" 

 into the mineral soil. 



2. Never build an 

 open fire for any pur- 

 pose near the woods 

 or fields when the 

 woods are dry. 



3. Never leave any 

 fire until it is entire] 

 out. Drench it with 

 water or cover it 

 completely with min- 

 eral soil. 



To Control Them 



This man's accidental 

 fire is similar to thousands set each year by 

 smokers who throw away lighted matches, ciga- 

 rettes, cigars or pipe tobacco from car windows 

 or automobiles ot as they tramp the woods and 

 roads. I )on't guess, but always know that match 

 is out before you drop it anywhere. Don't ever 

 be in such a hurry that you fail to tramp dis- 

 carded "smokes" into the mineral soil before you 

 leave, if there is any heat in them. Remember, 

 dry grass or leaves are even more inflammable 

 than papers in a waste-basket. 



Most States now have firewardens or some 

 similar organization for putting out forest fires. 



1. Never pass even 

 the smallest fire un- 

 noticed. Put it out 

 yourself or see that a fire warden, the owner 

 or some responsible resident starts for it be- 

 fore you leave. 



2. Fire travels with the wind always. Stop 

 its front first and put out the sides and rear 

 later. Sand or soil will smother it, beating will 

 kill it, but water is always best. Flirt water 

 or soil along the line, do not dump it in 

 one place. Beat towarc? the fire to avoid 

 spreading it. 



3. Always work slowly and deliberately in 

 fighting fire so that every motion counts and 

 your energy is not wasted. 



