is fire v/au the opportunity 



to uco c- Jioporting icon and equipment. This 



ver. 1 node of . ortation was used wherever 

 noc- ;c.rpa were 3:ept well supplied with provisions 



and : ont hungry cnly when they v/ere unable to got to the 



Although no preparations had been made for the 

 enploymont of such lar^a bodies of men, numerous ingenious 

 sy. of organizing s'nall crews, isouing and dispatching 

 ordero end handling men at camps were devised and adopted, 

 not "ceding the strain of the fight. 



Lion v:ere employed at the standard rate of pay for 

 pert of the country. 25(4 per hour was allowed for time 

 conox'jnoJl g in S from San Bernardino to the fire, for all time 



::t on the rire line/ or in traveling between the fire camps 

 and the fire line, and also for returning from the fire to San 

 Bernardino. The statement that straight tine at 25f per hour 

 fron the start from San Bernardino until the return was un- 

 authorized and did not originate with any Forest officer. It 

 ia obvious that the standard Forest Service syotom of paying fire 

 fighters by the hour would be nonsensical if payment were to be 

 made for twenty-four honrs a day. 



Back-firing, when possible to practice it, is 

 one of the most effective methods for fighting forest fires. 

 Jhis ejetein was used whenever conditions of wind and slope made 

 it safe, and miles of back-fires were set under the instructions 

 of Forest officers. Back-fires are exceedingly dangerous 

 weapons, however, arid vrhon indiscriminately or unintelligently 

 used, are certain to opread the fire instead of aiding in its 

 control. One of the most serious handicaps the Forest officers 

 had to contend with was the setting of unauthorized back-fires 

 by settlers who wanted to protect their own property but failed 

 to take precautions against spread of the fires they had set. 



Instructions against back-firing were usually 

 rnspected by settlers and threats to use fire arms was not 

 necessary and was not at any time resorted to. Some dis- 

 astrous back-fires v/ere sot when no Forest officers were near to 

 prevent it. On sawmill man back-fired around his property 

 although he wae not in the path of the main fire. He then 

 started up his mill in disregard of possible damage his back- 

 fire night do to others. Forest officers and fire fighters 

 had to leave their work on the main fire to fight this back- 

 fire but before they succeeded in bringing it under control it 

 had, on account of the high wind prevailing at that time, run 

 over two miles and Joined the main fire. 



On August 3, while the San Bernardino fire was still 

 at its height, a disbursing agent was sent from San Francisco with 

 a largo eum of money to his credit in the U. S. Sub-treasury. He 

 arrived in San Bernardino on the morning of August 4. Only 

 straggling fire fighters were then in town awaiting payment and 

 it was not until the night of August 5 that a Forest officer 

 could be spared from the line to come Into town and OK the time 

 checks of the fighters.. The disbursing p.gent started writing 



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