1 00:00:49,300 --> 00:00:55,410 Narrator: Elaborate road and trail systems have been constructed in the national forests, 2 00:00:55,410 --> 00:01:02,410 well equipped motor-trucks, packed trains, and airplanes are pressed into use, transporting 3 00:01:05,960 --> 00:01:12,960 supplies and firefighters. Specially designed tools, equipment, and power implements have 4 00:01:26,860 --> 00:01:32,610 been developed and are contributing their part to the difficult task of suppressing 5 00:01:32,610 --> 00:01:38,690 fires in the national forests. Great progress has been made in developing organization of 6 00:01:38,690 --> 00:01:44,970 crews for faster production of fireline and for other special tasks that must be done 7 00:01:44,970 --> 00:01:51,970 to control fires. 8 00:01:54,270 --> 00:02:01,270 Narrator: When these rangers began to fight fires they discovered through sad experience 9 00:02:07,110 --> 00:02:11,470 that there were certain rules of the game that must be followed and that when they were 10 00:02:11,470 --> 00:02:17,890 violated fires usually got away. Many other pioneers likewise learned about these Common 11 00:02:17,890 --> 00:02:24,890 Errors. The old timers past some of their knowledge on to the next crop of forest officers 12 00:02:24,959 --> 00:02:29,650 but systematic training had not yet been highly developed. And too often the lessons were 13 00:02:29,650 --> 00:02:35,390 not deeply enough impressed and so the second generation of rangers continued to make many 14 00:02:35,390 --> 00:02:42,390 of these same Common Errors until stern experience taught them better. Training technique has 15 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:48,190 advanced rapidly in recent years but has not kept pace with progress and transportation, 16 00:02:48,190 --> 00:02:54,530 organization, and equipment for firefighting. With the much more intensive attack on fires 17 00:02:54,530 --> 00:03:00,840 now practiced, many more forest officers are pressed into service as fireline overhead 18 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:07,470 and so we still find the same old Common Errors cropping up to plague the Fire Boss. The same 19 00:03:07,470 --> 00:03:14,470 errors but made by different men, why? Inadequate training. the purpose of this picture is help 20 00:03:14,580 --> 00:03:19,630 train the young forest officers, other firefighters and future foresters to avoid some of the 21 00:03:19,630 --> 00:03:26,630 more common and serious errors in firefighting. 22 00:03:28,030 --> 00:03:35,030 Narrator: Men have only so much energy to expend, climbing long distances up steep, 23 00:03:37,330 --> 00:03:42,970 rough hills to work, exacts an awful toll of this precious store of energy. The exact 24 00:03:42,970 --> 00:03:49,569 loss in fireline production due to this cause is not known but it is tremendous. These men 25 00:03:49,569 --> 00:03:54,650 must climb miles to the fireline to go to work and then down again at the end of each 26 00:03:54,650 --> 00:04:00,290 shift. Usually when camps are located too far from the job it is due to the lack of 27 00:04:00,290 --> 00:04:05,580 real thinking on the part of the fire boss. To a failure to appreciate the loss in his 28 00:04:05,580 --> 00:04:12,580 crew's ability to work on the fire due to fatigue. There are only three essential considerations 29 00:04:14,090 --> 00:04:21,019 in camp location: to get men within easy striking distance of the fire, to get the men in a 30 00:04:21,019 --> 00:04:28,019 place where they will be safe, to get the men where they can get water, food, and sleep. 31 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:33,560 The fire boss of this crew knows that it is much better to camp on the fireline so he 32 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:38,900 has the crew take their beds with them and arranges to have food and water transported 33 00:04:38,900 --> 00:04:45,900 to the line camp. Sometimes it is necessary to camp inside the burn for safety. The fire 34 00:04:47,310 --> 00:04:53,440 boss must see that his crew is protected from danger of the fire itself, from falling trees, 35 00:04:53,440 --> 00:05:00,310 rolling rocks, and logs. In the mountain country, pack mules are still a dependable standby 36 00:05:00,310 --> 00:05:07,310 for placing camp in rough terrain. Occasionally the only safe location is in a place which 37 00:05:10,009 --> 00:05:17,009 cannot be reached by pack stock, in such cases, airplanes must be employed. However, this 38 00:05:17,689 --> 00:05:23,449 is nearly always cheaper and better in the long run because the crew can devote a much 39 00:05:23,449 --> 00:05:30,449 greater share of its energy to the fire instead of wasting it hiking it up and down to camp. 40 00:05:30,669 --> 00:05:36,990 There is a natural tendency on the part of most men to do a workman-like job of grading, 41 00:05:36,990 --> 00:05:43,990 rather than to speed around the fire with an adequate but not overelaborate trench. 42 00:05:44,550 --> 00:05:51,069 These men are not only grading four times as much as needed but also are using a common 43 00:05:51,069 --> 00:05:57,520 but inefficient method of organization. Much time is lost due to loping and lack of supervision. 44 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:03,419 Under this method, time urgently needed to complete the control line to prevent a serious 45 00:06:03,419 --> 00:06:10,419 run or blowup is wasted. This crew is using the modern method of fireline organization 46 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:22,969 everyman is working, loping is reduced to the absolute minimum, no one interrupts another's 47 00:06:22,969 --> 00:06:29,969 work in passing. The fireline is being constructed, burned out, and held at a rate much faster 48 00:06:33,430 --> 00:06:40,430 than in the case of the old organization. Just as important, however, is the fact that 49 00:06:40,569 --> 00:06:47,569 the line is not being constructed too wide. In areas where snags are numerous, one of 50 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:55,229 the most serious Common Errors lies in the failure to fall the snags quickly enough to 51 00:06:55,229 --> 00:07:00,800 prevent their setting spot fires ahead of the line. In this case, all of the crew's 52 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:05,889 energy is being devoted to trenching while the wind is carrying sparks across the line 53 00:07:05,889 --> 00:07:12,889 to nullify its value. The fire boss must decide whether the snag falling job can wait, whether 54 00:07:12,990 --> 00:07:19,990 it must be done along with the trenching or even ahead of it. Pinecones and small chunks 55 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:27,330 may cause the fire to get away by rolling down steep slopes. Trenches shaped like this 56 00:07:27,330 --> 00:07:34,330 should be constructed. In very dangerous places it is good business to construct fairly elaborate 57 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:42,400 to catch the roll. A very serious and common error lies in failure to detect and remove 58 00:07:43,279 --> 00:07:49,020 burning material such as this from places where it may cause a crown fire or re-burn 59 00:07:49,020 --> 00:07:54,639 to start. It is so simple to remove a chunk like this from under a tree yet failure to 60 00:07:54,639 --> 00:08:01,639 do so has been responsible for a number of very large and costly fires. Much time and 61 00:08:02,279 --> 00:08:08,819 energy are wasted in constructing continuous trenches along dead fire edges. The more skillful 62 00:08:08,819 --> 00:08:15,819 fire boss will handle the situation like this. Remember, to be safe, cold-trailing must be 63 00:08:15,919 --> 00:08:22,919 done with the hands not with the eye. This man is making as much safe fireline as a whole 64 00:08:23,849 --> 00:08:30,849 crew building a continuous trench. Only the hot and dangerous edges are worked. Sometimes 65 00:08:31,029 --> 00:08:37,990 additional men work with the cold-trailer shoveling in the hot spots. The use of line 66 00:08:37,990 --> 00:08:43,940 building equipment machinery is too frequently overlooked. The Bozworth trencher will build 67 00:08:43,940 --> 00:08:50,390 on the average of 30 chains per hour. Here comes the line locator. The importance of 68 00:08:50,390 --> 00:08:57,070 line location for any method of line cannot be over-emphasized. In this type, a 25-man 69 00:08:57,070 --> 00:09:04,070 clearing crew composed of ax and Pulaski men and also several saw gangs, is needed to keep 70 00:09:04,630 --> 00:09:11,630 ahead of the machine and it should be followed by two or three men finishing the line. A 71 00:09:13,110 --> 00:09:20,110 torchman and an appropriate number of workers to hold and mop up. Fireline is never safe 72 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:27,520 as long as there is unburned fuel left to carry fire up to the line. The fireline has 73 00:09:28,630 --> 00:09:34,529 been built and burned out to the fire edge but there is still some unburned fuel left 74 00:09:34,529 --> 00:09:40,319 too close to the fireline. In the early morning, the line looks safe, the fire is merely creeping 75 00:09:40,319 --> 00:09:46,110 in the duff, there's still plenty of time to get the island burned out safely. The humidity 76 00:09:46,110 --> 00:09:53,110 is up and there's no wind, what are they waiting for? Now it's too late! The humidity has gone 77 00:09:56,740 --> 00:10:03,740 down to 12 and the wind has started to blow. It was an expensive mistake not to burn out 78 00:10:11,250 --> 00:10:18,250 that little patch of fuel! Pumpers give valuable assistance in fighting fire when properly 79 00:10:21,769 --> 00:10:28,769 used. Don't put them in dangerous situations. Preparations for backfiring from the line 80 00:10:31,389 --> 00:10:36,829 are being made but the nozzle man should be wetting down the fuel on the outside of the 81 00:10:36,829 --> 00:10:43,829 line NOT on the inside. The backfire can't start because the fuel is too wet. This method 82 00:10:48,170 --> 00:10:55,170 is excellent for watering lawns but a waste of water in mopping up a fire. The nozzle 83 00:10:56,110 --> 00:11:03,110 man can't do the mopping up alone; the heated fuel has to be exposed to the full force of 84 00:11:03,829 --> 00:11:10,829 the water. The man with a hose needs help to get the water down to the burning fuel. 85 00:11:11,050 --> 00:11:16,720 If any fuel is left hot, fire can always break out again and nullify all the work that's 86 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:23,720 been done. A nozzle man cannot do a good job and stay clean and dry. 87 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:38,920 Narrator: These men are eating breakfast at three o'clock in the morning. They tool up 88 00:11:48,579 --> 00:11:55,579 without delay and are out on the line by four. Such organization usually means success in 89 00:11:56,730 --> 00:12:03,399 fire control but many men who plan all night fail to get themselves or their crews up in 90 00:12:03,399 --> 00:12:10,399 time. They can break down a good organization. 4 o'clock in the morning, time to get started! 91 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:16,420 The best part of the day has been lost they should have started to work on the line four 92 00:12:16,420 --> 00:12:23,420 hours ago. Loafing in the fire camp begets loafing on the line. Fire is usually easy 93 00:12:32,089 --> 00:12:39,089 to work and control in the early morning hours. Why are they loafing? It is always a serious 94 00:12:43,980 --> 00:12:50,980 error and poor business to underrate a fire. Never give a fire a chance to build up momentum. 95 00:12:55,860 --> 00:12:57,440 They waited too long!