24 MISC. PUBLICATION 162, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
smokers, debris burners, and railroads. Many of these fires have been 
of incendiary origin. Only too common in this country are great fires _ 
which sweep over the forest, consuming the largest trees, killing ~ 
game and other wildlife, destroying human habitations and some- 
times taking a high toll in human life. Such a fire is likely to result 
when high wind whips the flames into the treetops (fig. 14). 
Not all fires are of this crown type, however. Frequently fires 
burn over the surface of the ground but do not reach the treetops. 
Such fires may not kill the bigger trees, and for this reason some 
persons have thought them not worth worrying about. But these 
fires that burn over the surface are very harmful to the forest. By 
scorching the bases of the big trees, they open wounds through which 
F-43808 
Figure 15.—Result of fire and hurricane. Coeur d’Alene National Forest, Idaho. 
wood rot enters, which depreciates the value of the lumber and in- 
creases the likelihood of the trees being broken by the wind. Sur- 
face fires, too, kill the young trees that would grow up to perpetuate 
the forest; they burn the leaves and other litter on the forest floor 
and destroy the fertility of the soil. They burn the coverts and nests 
of game animals and birds and the ashes sometimes make the streams 
uninhabitable for fish. If repeated often enough, such fires grad- 
ually turn the green forests into a waste—ugly, desolate, and un- 
profitable for any purpose (fig. 15). 
In general, forest fires, whether large or small, mean loss not only 
to the owner of the land but in some measure to everyone. They mean 
that so much more of our forest land will not be working for us; 
that there will be fewer trees to supply the wood necessary to build 
our houses, run our railroads, and make our furniture, and number- 
