and unpleasant work, if conscientiously done. Good 
practice decrees that wherever possible, the fire shall 
h>e “turned” toward lake or river by cutting of lanes 
and trenches barring its progress in opposite direc¬ 
tions. When an ordinary ground fire reaches water, 
of course, the flames are effectually confined. In 
the case of fire running up a mountain side, the 
brigade of fighters concentrate their efforts just 
over the summit to prevent the swath of destruction 
continuing downward into another valley. The fire 
sweeping at express speed up to the summit, pauses 
a moment before securing a hold on the descending 
slope. Wide trenches have already been constructed 
and scores of trees felled in order to create an im¬ 
passable chasm. Sparks fly across the trench but 
are extinguished by the watchful rangers before 
they can ignite the dry litter on the ground, and set 
a new area of valuable timber into a swirl of flame. 
There are few cut-and-dried rules for fighting fires in 
the forest. Every ‘job’ has to be handled according 
to local conditions, which are not in two instances 
exactly alike. For this reason the skill of the ranger 
and his devotion to duty count heavily. 
29 
