152 Third Annual Report of the 



existing lines, in order to secure a telephone system which will be 

 admirably adapted to the purposes of fire protection. 



There is a wide variance in the cost of construction of these 

 lines. If a main road is to be followed, it is often necessary to set 

 poles upon which to string the wire, thus adding considerably to 

 the expense. On the other hand, if the road passes through forest 

 land, there will be trees to which to attach the wire, and yet less 

 clearing and altogether easier construction than in the case of the 

 mountain station lines. 



EOADS AND TRAILS 



The situation in forest fire fVhtin^ resembles that in citv fire 

 fighting, to the extent that the sooner a fire is attacked, the easier 

 it is to exinguish it and the smaller the consequent loss will be. 

 Every agency which will facilitate prompt detection of a fire, or 

 enable the fire-fighters to reach the fire quickly, is of value in con- 

 nection with the system of fire protection. Mountain observation 

 stations provide for prompt detection of fires, telephones enable the 

 observers to report them as soon as they are detected ; and roads 

 and trails within the forest contribute to make every section acces- 

 sible. 



In most forests there are old roads which have been built for 

 previous logging operations. These, if kept cleared of brush and 

 trees, provide access to otherwise inaccessible regions, and greatly 

 aid the rapid mobilization of the fire-fighting force. The ranger 

 force may be employed on this work during periods of wet weather. 



Fire Lines 

 As a rule small bodies of forest land are less likely to suffer 

 from disastrous fires than lars-e bodies. Thev are usuallv more 

 accessible and they offer less area for the fire to travel over. A 

 fire can be checked in the open, while in the dense unbroken forest, 

 it is difficult to find a point of attack. An opening of any kind 

 provides such a point. Railroads, roads, trails, streams and areas 

 of open field or barren rock within a forest, are of great assistance 

 in combatting a fire. The forest should be divided up into just 

 as small units as is feasible. Where the topography of the country 

 furnishes lines of attack which need only to be cleared to be of 



