FIRES IN CALIFORNIA

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 March 1932, Page 3

FIRES IN CALIFORNIA

PREVENTIVE MEASURES. The 1932 campaign to protect Californian forests against fire has been mapped out (says the ‘Christian Science Monitor’). For several days the fifteen men who are to direct it pondered over charts, investigated equipment, and planned manoeuvres- , Past encounters were re-enacted and analysed- Those who commanded the forces made reports and recommendations. The conferees were members of the California region of the United States Forest System. The “fire season” for Northern California closes about October 10, and for southern California abopt December 1. After those dates there is usually sufficient rain and snow, moistening the floor of the forests and causing new growth, to assure against fires. In the north the season opens about June 1, and in the South May 1, making an average of six months in the year that fire-fighting forces are in the field. , To understand the proceedings of one of these post-season conferences it is necessary to know just, how the United States Forest Service in this region carries on its campaign. Mr Jay H. . Price, assistant regional forester, who is in charge of fire control, explained the system. To begin with, there are 125 fire lookout in the California region. These are placed so that they command a view of the Surrounding country. The watchers live in the lookout houses and are on duty practically all hours of the day. In addition there are secondary look-out men who keep watch over small areas not visable to the others, such as river canyons or areas hidden from the primary peaks by intervening hills. One of these men discovers smoke. He immediately telephones to a dispatcher at either the ranger’s or the forest supervisor’s headquarters, giving a description of the smoke or fire and the location according to a protractor. There are 700 firemen in the California region whose duty it is to “stand by” for orders from the dispatchers. On receiving the information the dispatcher relays it to the fireman who is nearest to the blaze. He starts for the fire, going by automobile, horseback, or a-foot, depending on his location. He carries an axe, a shovel and a back-pack ?:imp, used to spray water. In the meanwhile the outlook keeps

the dispatcher informed, and if it appears that the fire is not being brought under control more men and equipment are sent. The ranger in charge of the district goes to the fire and directs the fighting There are ninety rangers in the California national forests. Each has charge of a district of about 300,000 acres.

Usually, Mr Price declared, in the case of a big fire they discover that there was some preventive measure which could have been taken earlier in the fire. At the conference here three points in particular were stressed. One of these was the necessity for better telephone service. In the small communities the local exchanges are sometimes closed, the operator being off duty. It has been found that the information furnished by local people is not always dependable. A ranger should either make a personal observation of the fire or use some means to check up on the information. The third point which was stressed was the necessity for a “clean line,*’ meaning that the back-firing process must be thorough enough so that there is no danger of fire creeping across. In order to do this it is necessary to remove all inflammable material down to the mineral soil. A man on every fire within half an hour, except in the high country, is the aim of the service, Mr Price declared.

leather plays an important part. 1 he service, in co-operation with the state division of forestry . and the United States 'Weather Bureau, has a special truck equipped with’ meteorological and radio instruments which can be taken to a fire- A contact is

made with the central weather bureau ip San Francisco and by checking these regional forecasts with local weather conditions, the metorolqgist in charge of the truck is able to forecast the Kind of weather that may be expected during the fire. Trapto.rs, graders, and rippers are u§ed to Iniild firebreaks; Trucks carrying equipment and supplies are stationed at many of the forests. Tank tr.pcks nsing a power pump and hpsp are rushed to fires near highways and roads. Portable pumps and hose are also a regulars part of the

equipment. A record kept for the last ten years reveals that human carelessness caused 78.0 per cent of the fires. About 135,000 acres of- the -national forests in the California region' were swept by fire during the last season. “If wo w hold thp loss dowx t* 50,000 icres a year, it would be satisfactory, for the growth would make up for that loss,” Mr Price said. “This. 1 is about t2 of 1 per cent., of the total area. The public is co-operating with us more and more and we are gradually winning.” .