FIRE 173 



The preceding fire-cause list shows the situation on all our forest land, 

 public and private, protected and unprotected. On the national forests of 

 the United States, alone, the incendiary loss is much lower, the loss from 

 fires started carelessly by smokers is about the same, and the number of 

 fires set by lightning is, proportionately, much higher. The break-down is 

 shown in table 2. 



TABLE 2. Fire causes on national forest land, 7933-37 ' 



Per- Number Per- Number 



Cause cent of fires Cause cent of fires 



Incendiary 11.9 1,347 Lightning 38.6 4,349 



Smokers 22.5 2,533 Campers 8.0 898 



Debris burning 10.1 1,137 Railroads 2.1 24 



Miscellaneous 5.1 578 Lumbering 1.7 18 



i The figures are stated in averages for the 5-year period. 



"Because of the pyramiding human use of the woods for recreational and 

 industrial purposes," Headley concludes, "the need for a powerful counter- 

 attack is necessary on accidental fires as well as on fires resulting from 

 thoughtlessness, carelessness, and incendiarism. That our notorious fire- 

 starting habits can be changed has been demonstrated on some of the older 

 national forests in the East. Deep-rooted beliefs in woods burning and a 

 full measure of thoughtlessness and carelessness in dense populations have 

 been transformed into respect for the forest and effective fire-safety habits. 

 These pioneering transformations have been slow, . . . but they prove 

 that a whole nation of communities can be led to appreciate the forests 

 and to hate fire with an effective hatred." 



"WE MUST EDUCATE, we must educate," ran a sentence in the Fifth 

 McGufTey Readers, "or we perish in our own prosperity! " As a simple 

 example of elementary adult education seeking to outpace actual catas- 

 trophe, the present American attack on fire, flood, and soil destruction is 

 of more than technical interest. Results thus far vary widely, from section 

 to section. New England has a good fire record, but this was partly the 

 result of a rather low fire hazard in the past. Driving in the White Moun- 

 tains you will see tourist after tourist flip a burning cigarette butt out of the 

 car window, without thought. You see this very rarely in California; for 



