■28 FOREST RESERVE MANUAL. 



camping, appear to do wrong, without losing his temper or 

 without using improper language, fails to that extent in one 

 of his principal duties. In cases where inexperienced per- 

 sons build a fire against a large rotten log merely to cook a 

 cup of coffee, or where a fire is built in a mass of dry duff, 

 etc. , and where the work of putting out such a fire is beyond 

 ordinary effort, a forest officer should call their attention to 

 such mistake and instruct them in the proper way of building 

 and handling fires. The two main points in this connection 

 are always: 



{a) Do not start a fire where it will be difficult to put it out. 



(J) Never leave a fire without putting it out. This is law. 



The puerile desire to see a fine balsam or spruce burn and 

 show like a huge candle in the night, which has so often been 

 expressed and carried out, must, of course, never be tolerated. 

 It is malicious burning, and may bring a fine of $5,000. 



Lightning Jires.— ^ires from this source are not rare, espe- 

 cially in our 'dry mountain regions, and it is necessary after 

 every electric storm to make a special effort to locate and 

 extinguish any such fires before they are well under way. 



Fighting fires. — When once a fire has spread over an acre 

 or more, especially on difficult ground where a large amount of 

 dead and down material makes it a real hot fire, the matter 

 is frequently beyond the possibilities of one ranger alone. In 

 such cases it is often best to seek for help. 



In fighting fires of this kind the character and conditions of 

 the woods, the weather, and even the time of day have so 

 much to do with the case that a set of general directions has 

 little value, and the experience and good judgment of the 

 ranger mean everything. 



Generally, it may be said that the proper tools to fight the 

 fire are the shovel, mattock, and ax. 



For this reason the ranger should always carry at least 

 shovel and ax during all the dangerous season, so that he is 

 never unarmed against this archenemy of the woods. 



In humid, heavy timber the fire usually travels slowly, and 

 a few men, if persistent, can keep it in check by trenching, 

 though they can never extinguish it, and must therefore watch 

 it until a rain helps them out. 



In dry, open pine woods the fire travels faster, and it is 

 often best to go some distance and hunt the most open and 

 clean ground, trench, and hack fire from there. 



