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- 



