20. -MESC. PUBLICATION 290. U. 8S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
During the danger season forest supervisors and rangers concen- 
trate their efforts to prevent fires and to catch, while still small, 
those that do start. Extra men are employed, the forests are syste- 
matically patrolled, and a careful lookout is maintained from towers 
and stations on high points. 
Roads and trails are being built so that all parts of the forests 
may be quickly reached. The ranger stations and lookouts are 
connected with the offices of the supervisors by telephone, so that 
men may be quickly assembled to fight fires which the patrolmen 
cannot subdue alone. eae Roe Bhar 
F-270786 
FIGURE 15.—Using his alidade the guard has located .a forest fire. He is reporting it by 
telephone to the nearest ranger station, Coeur d’Alene National Forest, Idaho. 
Tools and food supplies for fire fighters are stored at convenient 
places. Service of supply is also being augmented by a new develop- 
ment in fire-fighting technique—the use of aircraft. The Forest 
Service owns no air planes, but charters them from commercial con- 
cerns when need arises. 
Experiments have resulted in development of standard methods 
of dropping equipment and supplies to fire fighters from airplanes. 
Special packaging and the use of simple parachutes constructed in 
a few minutes from easily obtainable material have made this posst- 
ble. Valuable time is thus saved in supplying ground crews oper- 
ating far from supply bases. 
Aircraft are used also in scouting and patrolling large fires, and 
to aid in detection during periods of extremely low visibility. The 
system of lookouts is far more effective, however, for general fire. 
detection. 
e 
