22 BULLETIN 1491, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
forest-fire organization is on a par with a similarly organized and 
equipped city fire department; it is rather a liability than an asset. 
It creates a feeling of security which is unjustified and which leads 
to a rude awakening when a real fire crisis arises. Forest fires when 
handled by such an organization usually burn themselves out. 
The fire-control organization must not only be well-manned; it 
must also be well equipped. Good glass-inclosed fire-lookout towers 
are several times as effective as the cheaper uninclosed stations. Up- 
to-date forest-fire fighting equipment in quantity is essential to suc- 
cess. It should be distributed throughout the forest districts of the 
State, preferably with the district wardens, where it can be rushed 
to any fire on call. Equipment should include ample quantities of 
shovels, axes, brush hooks, rakes, hand and power water pumps, and 
other modern fire-fighting implements. 
The forest-fire organization is responsible for enforcing the forest- 
fire laws of the State. These ordinarily prohibit : 
1. Kindling fires in the open without permit from a forest-fire 
warden. Such permits are subject to revocation by the fire warden 
if he deems it advisable. 
2. Throwing down lighted matches, cigars, cigarettes, or other 
burning substances when and where they may endanger woodlands. 
3. Leaving a camp fire while it is burning. 
4. Setting fires which will endanger the property of another. 
5. Setting fires to clear land. 
6. Carrying naked torches on forest lands. 
7. Sending up unpiloted hot-air balloons. 
8. Depositing fire, live coals, or hot ashes, unless they are properly 
protected, upon any railroad track or right of way on or near forest 
land. 
The laws ordinarily require railroads to keep their rights of way 
through forest lands clear of inflammable material, to patrol their 
tracks through forest -lands for fire at certain seasons of the year 
when ordered to do so by the State forestry officer, and to instruct 
their own employees to extinguish fires along the rights of way. 
Locomotives and other steam plants operating in or near forest land 
are required to be equipped with spark arresters and the locomotives 
with suitable ash pans to prevent the escape of fire. 
Other requirements include the clearing away of slash resulting 
from cut timber in a strip 25 to 60 feet wide adjacent to public high- 
ways, steam or electric railroad rights of way, and timber property 
belonging to other owners. Railroads are permitted to enter upon 
forest or brush land adjacent to the right of way for the purpose of 
removing inflammable material for a specified distance. The clear- 
ing away of slash and other debris for a distance of 100 feet or so 
around portable mills set up for operation is ordinarily required, 
and the removal of cut brush within the limits of any public highway. 
Private owners of large blocks of timberland are generally required 
to provide adequate patrol against forest fires. 
Some State laws permit the governor, during periods of excessive 
fire danger, to close the woods to persons whose presence might 
create a fire hazard and to close or change the dates of the open 
season for hunting, trapping, and fishing. 
