Answering tke Call 



By John McLaren 



rpHE day had been a hard one at the District Office, niation to the rei)orters and routing autos and trucks. 



1 Fire season was on. Every ring of the phone bell The situation looked extremely serious. More trouble 



threatened to send some man into the field to take charge might develop. All the fire fighting equipment on this 



of a big fire. But no call had come to me and my family Forest was in service. As a precautionary measure the 



and I were happy in the thought. District Office was wired to ship by express tools (from 



"Well, John," said the wife, "glad you are hoane for the central cache) sufficient to equip one hundred men 



supper tonight. I've been afraid all day you would and to detail five Rangers from other Forests to this 



telephone that you must start for a fire somewhere. I point for fire duty. 



wish it would rain so that the fire danger would be re- 

 duced. I've packed your field clothes so that every- 

 thing would be in readiness if you did have to leave in 

 a hurry." 



The evening meal finished, we were having a delightful 

 romp with the kiddies, when "Ting-a-ling. Ting-a-ling" 

 came the summons. 



"Hello," came the call over the wire. "This is West- 

 ern Union. Telegram for the District Forester signed 

 by the Super- 

 visor of the 

 Bighorn Forest 

 'Fire near 

 Woodrock for- 

 est cover very 

 dry, strong 

 southwest wind 

 3 n e hundred 

 men on way to 

 fire Ranger 

 Austin on the 

 job. Estimated 

 cost not less 

 than $1000.' " 



A glance at 

 the clock show- 

 ed 6:55. Just 

 twenty minutes 

 to make the 

 train. Thanks 

 to the wife's 

 thought fulness it could be done. With a hurried goodbye 

 I was on the road again to another conflagration, ponder- 

 ing the while the possibilities of an unusually hard fire 

 su])])ression job. That section of the Bighorn is heavily 

 timbered and several old "slashings" are in the vicinity. 



After a night's ride the Supervisor's headquarters at 

 Sheridan were reached. The Clerk, with a welcoming 

 smile and a hearty handshake, explained that the "big" 

 fire had spread raj)idly and that, for greater troubles 

 there were several other fires reported. 



Every Ranger on the Forest was handling a fire job 

 and the Supervisor and I3eputy had left for the field 

 yesterday. More men, more supplies and more ecpiip- 

 ment were needed. The Clerk was as busy as a man on 

 the firing line receiving and filling orders, giving infor- 



PIXES IX THE S.'^X IS.\BEL 



Xot only will many board feet of lumber be destroyed if fires 

 beauty value of even greater magnitude will 



A fast twenty mile ride by auto and Dayton was 

 reached, at which point men were being mobilized and 

 forwarded to the fires. 



Fisher, the wide-a-wake, energetic Secretary of the 

 Sheridan Commercial Club, was in full charge of re- 

 cruiting. His elYorts were tireless and his competence 

 so evident that it was unnecessary to detail a Forest 

 Officer at this point. 



Another twenty miles travel and the main fire camp 



w a s reached. 

 Jhe Supervis- 

 or, saying sim- 

 ])ly, "Fm glad 

 to see you." 

 briefly outlin- 

 ed the situa- 

 tion. The other 

 fires were all 

 manned and 

 were being 

 held and 200 

 men would be 

 in the big fire 

 by night fall. 

 Asked for the 

 cause of the big 

 fire he stated 

 that conclusive 

 evidence had 

 been obtained 

 and that the man responsible for it was at work with 

 the fire fighters and could be interviewed at any time. 



An inspection of the fire developed that it had reached 

 the old slashings and, driven by the wind, was an ap- 

 palling, raging inferno which apparently no human agency 

 could hope to conquer. 



Two hundred men on the job, ten days of gruelling, 

 exhaustive labor and the fire was under control. Twenty- 

 seven hundred acres of green valleys and mountainsides 

 were made black and desolate and the cost of keeping 

 it from other and more valuable timber was over $6000. 

 Needless and wholly unnecessary because it came as 

 a result of one man's egotism and carelessness. This 

 man had been clearing land on some patented mining 

 claims, not because it was essential but to provide some- 



burn up 

 be lost. 



these trees but a 



