23 



Part II 



Prevention and Control of Rallpoad Forest Fires 



The prevention and control of railroad forest fires 

 forms one of the hard problems which the railroads and for- 

 esters are trying to solve • Ivlany railroads are doing every- 

 thing in their power to eliminate forest fires v/hich originate 

 on their right-of-way* They are beginning to believe the 

 old saying that '^In ounce of prevention is worth a poimd of 

 ciire". 



Spark Arresters and Ash Pans * 



Sparks from locomotives cause most of the fires 

 which escape from the railroad right-of-way to adjacent 

 forest lands. It is therefore necessary to use some kind 

 of a device which will prevent the live sparks from escaping 

 and falling on the right-of-way. Many different types of 

 spark arresters are made but none has yet been designed 

 which will stop all the sparks. Some of the best will stop 

 at least 95 per cent of the sparks. 



Allen (1911) says, ^'The argument that spark arresters 

 prevent draft is not worth attention. It is greatly exag- 

 gerated by engineers and firemen prejudiced against innovation 

 or too inattentive to keep their fires up properly and con- 

 sequently unnecessar,ily dependent on occasional forced draft. 

 The slight disadvantage involved in the modern improved arrester 

 is not to be compared v/ith the importance of the safety acquired." 



There are two general types of spark arresters: (1) 

 the "hood" type which is fitted on top of the smoke stack, and 



