1927 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS 149 



The Flying Operations of 1926: 



The operating season of 1926 extended over a period of 188 days during 

 which time the Service flew 3,539.22 hours; this compares with the season of 

 1925 which extended over a period of 206 days during which time 2,738.37 

 hours were flown. 



Detection: 



The requisitions for fire detection are controlled entirely by the District 

 Foresters and patrols are carried out in accordance with their instructions. 

 The decision as to whether the fire hazard necessitates patrols rests entirely 

 with them. 



As in the operating seasons 1924 and 1925, the principal outlet for flying 

 in Ontario has been detection, the original and essential reason for the formation 

 of the Service. With a few exceptions the entire forest area of Northern Ontario 

 lying west and north of Lake Superior and the French River, an area of approxi- 

 mately 800 miles from east to west and 400 miles from north to south, was 

 periodically patrolled by the machines of this Service during all seasons of fire 

 hazard. In this operation 1,957.44 hours or 55.4 per cent, of the total time 

 were flown, as compared with 1,440.40 hours (52.5 per cent, of total time) flown 

 for detection last year. The fire patrols covered 4,707.968 square miles, or 

 3,013,089,522 acres. The effectiveness of this protection is shown by the fact 

 that 972 fires were reported by the air patrol, many of them small and easily 

 controllable when discovered. 



Suppression: 



The use of aircraft for fire suppression purposes is rapidly increasing as is 

 shown by the 640.17 hours (18.1 per cent, of the total flying time) flown for 

 this purpose in 1926, as compared with 155.45 hours (5.7 per cent, of total 

 time) in 1925, Most of this flying was used in the transportation of fire fighters 

 and equipment to fires when speed was essential and ordinary methods of trans- 

 portation were slow. This was specially demonstrated in the newly-organized 

 Red Lake District, where many of the water routes were uncharted or unmapped 

 and transportation off the beaten track was very uncertain and entirely too 

 laborious. A further use of aircraft to aid the suppression forces was the trans- 

 portation of men and equipment to various strategical outposts in readiness to 

 cope with fires in the adjacent areas. By this means the machines were kept 

 partly employed in times of fire patrol inactivity, and considerable time and 

 labour were saved the suppression forces. 



Worthy of mention is a series of suppression flights which started on July 

 31st as follows: The machine, while on the requisition of suppression trans- 

 porting equipment from Bear Lake to Longlac on July 31st at 7.30 a.m. detected 

 a fire which merited instant attention, a fire of Class "D" classification. It is 

 noteworthy that on this flight the machine also located Chief Sterret in a canoe 

 on Bluffy Lake and landed. The fire was reported to him direct at 8.05 a.m. 

 The machine then returned to Pine Ridge for equipment and men, thence to 

 Bear Lake transporting Deputy Ranger and equipment to the scene of the 

 fire, landing at 10.30 a.m. A second flight was carried out carrying men and 

 equipment, landing them at the fire at 2 p.m. of the same day. In the sup- 

 pression of this fire 35 flights were made to the fire, totalling 48.25 hours actual 

 flying time. The fire was pronounced out on the 10th of August, having burned 

 over approximately 3,200 acres. The Provincial Air Service carried 10,315 

 pounds of men and equipment. Of this, 6,420 pounds were fire fighting equip- 



