

Bad Smoke! 
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A Few Comments on the Prevention and Fighting of Forest Fires 
WY Y HEN the last of the snow has 
gone and the balmy breezes 
announce the definite arrival 
of spring, the season of the “bad 
smoke” is at hand to stay through the 
summer, and to those of us who make 
the timber lands our temporary or 
permanent habitat this warning 
of nature must not go unheeded. 
On every beaten trail, port- 
ages, and in many of the out- 
of-the-way places in the bush 
country, we find meny specific 
warnings that have been posted 
by the Foresters in a human 
effort to bring to our minds 
more clearly,. by word and pic- 
ture, the great caution we must 
exercise when handling fire in 
the woods. We, who love the 
forests, heed these warnings, for 
they represent the effort of the 
Department of Forestry to preserve 
for us the great wilderness lands that 
form our “happy hunting grounds.” 
At the same time, we know that 
every year the main trails are 
beaten by more tenderfeet, dudes and 
“would-be” campers, whose interest in 
the forests are limited only to the brief 
apt to occur, 
our forests 
up to 
signs in our woodlands. 
man is he who is careful and thoughtful. 
By STAG MURRAY 
stay that their meager vacations will 
permit. What care they, these city- 
bred “sports,” if the trail they leave 
behind is a charred, smouldering mass 
of fallen monarchs? With the opening 
up of new highways through our wood- 
lands, still another menace comes to 
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During vacation time forest fires are most 
Help the rangers to save 
living 
printed on the 
The best woods- 
from destruction by 
instructions 
the 
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our attention. The careless auto-camper 
who, knowing that a few hours will find 
him far away, leaves his campfire still 
burning as he “steps on it’ with a 
shrug of the shoulder and a light “It’ll 
die out by itself.” 
When selecting the site of your camp 
this year, whether it is to be the vast 
wilderness lands or relatively near to 
civilization, there are several very im- 
portants points which should be ad- 
hered to. 
lee first of these is the taking of a 
Forest Fire Insurance Policy to 
cover any possible loss of personal 
property. Secondly, choose for 
your camp location the point of 
a long, narrow peninsula that 
juts far out into a river or lake. 
Shallow water for about ten 
yards out from the shore is an 
added advantage which I will 
illustrate later. Take the nec- 
essary time to cut a clearing at 
least fifty feet wide behind your 
camp, from water to water. 
This clearing is called a “fire- 
belt.” While I agree that a 
cozy little camp in a shaded 
grove is the most picturesque, 
the experienced woodsman will confirm 
the advisability of this precaution. 
THIRDLY, dig a pit near your camp 
that is big enough and deep enough 
to hold all of your essential provisions, 
etc., putting the removed earth in a 
neat pile near the edge of the hole. 
Cover this pit with some logs or plank- 
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