152 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



remember this and always have someone to watch a fire for 

 some time after it is supposedly out. 



The most effective time to fight fire is in the night when there 

 is usually less wind and the ground is damp with dew. A small 

 force of men can often accomplish more at this time than a large 

 force in the daytime. 



It is easier to put out a fire spreading downhill than in the 

 opposite direction, because hot air rises and an ascending fire is 

 fanned by the draft which it creates. 



Fortunately crown fires are not very common in New England. 

 About the only way to prevent a serious crown fire with a strong 

 wind is by "back firing," but this should never be resorted to 

 except as a last resort and at points of vantage. To have a back 

 fire effective it must be started far enough ahead of the main fire 

 to clear a considerable strip of all inflammable material before 

 the main fire reaches it. This distance, therefore, depends upon 

 the rate of advance of the main fire. A fire advancing at the 

 rate of a mile an hour could probably be checked by a back fire 

 set one-half mile ahead; while to check one travehng at twice 

 that rate a greater distance would be required. Great care must 

 be used in starting a back fire that this does not escape with the 

 wind and go tearing through the forest, increasing the damage 

 done by the main fire. 



The purpose is to burn back against the wind toward the main 

 fire and thus destroy all inflammable material in the track of 

 the main fire and cause its death through lack of fuel. A back 

 fire should only be started on the side of a road, brook, ledge, or 

 some other obstacle which would help to control it. 



Estimating the Damage Done by Forest Fires. 



In almost all states persons who set forest fires are responsible 

 for damages, and civil suit for such may be brought against them. 

 From the first part of this chapter it will be seen that fires seldom 

 kill standing timber outright and that the damage thereto is 

 often small compared to that done the younger growing stock, 

 the reproduction, and the soil itself. Inasmuch as this young 



