1922-23 



DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS 



173 



(6) Equipment 



The expenditure required annually for the replacement of equipment is 

 necessarily large in an organization with a field stafif of over twelve hundred 

 men, but the purchase of additional and improved fire-fighting equipment must 

 not be overlooked. Forest protection to-day depends largely upon organization 

 and equipment, especially on the mechanical side. The combating of fires with 

 effective means has also a desirable influence in raising the general spirit of the 

 personnel to reduce fire losses. 



Of the total expenditure of $127,186.92 on equipment this past season, 

 almost one-half the amount was invested in portable forest fire-fighting units 

 and hose. Fifty-four of these units, or pumps as they are commonly called, were 

 purchased, with 2,000 feet of hose for each, and paid for themselves many times 

 over this one season. They not only took the place of manual labour, which 

 was not always available, but enabled the control of fires in places where other- 

 wise it would have been impossible. 



That no towns nor settlements were burned and no lives lost was due in some 

 instances only to the morale of the field staff and their work with the pumps. 

 During early June five northern towns were seriously endangered, but in each 

 case it was possible with the use of two or three pumps to check the fire before 

 buildings were destroyed. In one instance the situation became so critical that 

 the women and children were placed on a special train ready to leave the town, 

 but the rangers, with their faces muffled with wet cloths so hot was the blaze, 

 were able with three pumps to check the fire and not one building was burned 

 within the town limits. 



Even after the close of the forest fire season the greater part of one small 

 town, in which is located a Chief Ranger headquarters and storehouse, was 

 saved from destruction by a fire which started within the town itself. The 

 pumps had been stored away for the winter, but the one man at the headquarters 

 was able to have them in operation in a very short time and the fire was stopped 

 with comparatively small loss. 



These instances demonstrate the usefulness of the forest fire pump in pro- 

 tection work. The average life of a unit is not definitely known, but it is at 

 least five years. The initial outlay therefore, distributed over this period 

 makes the annual charge reasonably small. There are now 88 pumps in stock 

 but many more are needed. 



In districts where the roads will permit, light delivery trucks are used to 

 good advantage. They provide a means of rapid transport for men and sup- 



