100 THE BOOK OF FORESTRY 
sparks along the track. Lightning sets some fires, 
especially in the West where electrical storms with 
little or no rain are common. Such a storm set no less 
than eighteen fires one Sunday afternoon on a National 
Forest in northern Idaho. 
How to Prevent Fires——The best way to decrease the 
number of forest fires and diminish the enormous annual 
loss-—$50,000,000—is to educate the American people 
concerning the danger that is incurred as the result of 
carelessness in the woods. Everyone going into the 
forest should realize that he should not leave his camp- 
fire without pouring water upon it. A safe plan is to 
build the fire on the stony edge of a brook or if that is 
impossible, to rake away leaves and rotten limbs that 
might smolder unnoticed. 
Next in importance to public education is the building 
up by the States of a fire protection force composed of 
lookout men, patrolmen, and rangers. Great strides 
have been made in the science of fire fighting during 
the last few years. Speed in the reaching of a fire is 
absolutely necessary and that is where the mountain 
lookout station is of such great service. These lookout 
stations, which are used by the Federal Forest Service 
and many of the States, are located on the highest 
mountain peaks, points that command a superb view 
of many square miles of forest-covered territory. Some- 
times it is only a little hut on top of the mountain 
while in other cases a steel frame like a windmill 
tower is built and a one-room shack built on top of 
this. Here the lookout man remains during the fire 
season, a map of the region spread on the table before 
him and a strong pair of field-glasses in his hand. If 
he notices a thread of smoke arising from a neighboring 
valley he reaches for the telephone and notifies the 
