Fires caused by lightning are not rare, especially in dry mountain regions. After every electric storm a special effort should be made to locate and extinguish any such fires before they are well under way.

HOW TO FIGHT FIRE.

When once a fire has spread over an acre or more, especially where much dead and down timber makes it very hot, it may be so far beyond the control of one man that it is best to leave it and get help. The character and condition of the woods, the weather, the prevailing winds, and even the time of day have so much to do with such cases that general directions have little value, and all depends upon the experience and good judgment of the ranger.

Generally the best tools for fighting fire are the shovel, mattock, and ax. The ranger should always carry at least an ax during all the dangerous season.

In a damp, heavy forest, fire usually travels slowly, and a few men, if persistent, can keep it in check by trenching, even though they may not extinguish it, and must continue the watch until rain falls. In dry, open woods fire travels faster, and it is often best to go some distance to open ground and back fire from there. In handling back fires great care is needed to avoid useless burning; therefore they should never be set except by Forest officers, unless in great emergencies.

The night or the early morning is the best time to work, whenever any choice exists, for nearly all forest fires die down, more or less, during the cool of the night and flare up again during the heat of the day.

Following are several general principles to be borne in mind:

Protect the valuable timber rather than the brush or waste.

Never leave a fire, unless driven away, until it is entirely out.

Young saplings suffer more than old mature timber. A surface fire in open woods, though not dangerous to old timber, does great harm by killing seedlings.

A fire rushes uphill, crosses a crest slowly, and is more or less checked in traveling down. Therefore, if possible, use the crest of the ridge and the bottom as lines of attack.

A good trail, a road, a stream, an open park check the fire. Use them whenever possible.

Damp or even dry sand or earth thrown on a fire is usually as effective as water and easier to get.

ACTION AND REPORT.

Small fires, extinguished without difficulty by the officer who discovers them, may be reported to the supervisor at the end of the month. He should be notified at once of large ones which require help from residents or other rangers, purchase of supplies, or attendance for several days. But if help is needed, the Forest officer on the ground should get it at once. He should hire men and messengers, if necessary, send for supplies, and notify the supervisor of the action taken. The supervisor will furnish any further help needed, and telegraph the Forester if an amount in excess of $300 is required. He will also notify the Forester as soon as the total cost of any fire requiring extra help and expense is ascertained.

In reporting upon fires three classes should be distinguished, as follows:

A. Camp fires and other small fires covering not more than a few square rods.

B. Small forest fires, extinguished without any extra help or expense, and generally not covering over 5 acres.

C. Large fires, requiring extra help and expense.

On the last day of each month every ranger and guard will fill out his monthly fire report on Form 944, using a separate column for each fire, or, if such is the case, writing "No fires on District during 190-." In case of large Class C fires, the ranger should supplement his monthly report form with a letter. The report on Form 944 should be accompanied by a township plat or plats (From 974) on which the burned-over areas are shown in red by the use of a colored pencil. If more than one fire is reported, each should be given a number, which should appear on the corresponding area on the map sheet. Before filing in the supervisor's office, the fire report and the accompanying map sheet or sheets should be securely fastened together. The data on the location of burnedover areas should be transcribed to the working map to be kept in each supervisor's office.

On January 1 of each year the supervisor should submit an annual report on fires, which should cover the twelve months ending November 30. This report should be accompanied by a small scale map of the Forest, showing the location of all areas burned over during the year. This data will be secured from the map submitted in connection with the ranger's report on Form 944.

EXPENDITURES FOR FIGHTING FIRE.

Every supervisor is authorized, in person or through a subordinate, to hire temporary men, purchase tocls and supplies, and pay for their transportation from place to place to extinguish a fire. No expense for fighting a fire outside a Forest must be incurred unless the fire threatens it.

The cost of fire fighting, when properly entered on Form 99, will not be charged against the supervisor's letter of authorization for general expenses, but will be paid from an allotment reserved by the Forester for that purpose.

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To promote willing assistance, in every possible instance the supervisor should, when practicable, pay the extra labor in cash on the ground immediately after the fire is extinguished. Reimbursement for such expenses will be made in accordance with the instructions in the Green Book.

When the supervisor finds it impossible to pay these emergency assistants in cash, Form 143 may be used, as explained in the Green Book. If there is any delay, the reason for it should be carefully explained to the men.

Fire fighters should be paid by the hour, actual working time, at the current local rates. The time consumed in going to and from the fire may be included.

While the Forest Service is anxious to prevent and fight fires, only a limited amount of money can be devoted to this purpose. Experience has proved that usually a reasonable effort only is justified, and that a fire which can not be controlled by from 20 to 40 men will run away from 100 or even more men, since heat and smoke in such cases make a direct fight impossible.

Extravagant expeditures will not be tolerated. Fires are sometimes started for the sake of a job. In and about every Forest it is possible to enlist the cooperation of the better citizens, so that in time of need enough men of the right kind will be on hand. A crowd of men hastily gathered about a town, without organization, interest, or experience, is valuable only as a last resort.

PROTECTION AGAINST TRESPASS.

CIVIL ACTION.

The United States has all the civil rights and remedies for trespass possessed by private individuals.

If any Forest officer discovers a trespass he will notify the trespasser, if possible in the presence of a witness, to discontinue the trespass, and note the hour, day, and place of notice. He will also report the facts immediately to the supervisor on

Form 856, and when danger of removal or destruction is imminent, will seize all timber and other Government property wrongfully taken, and, if necessary, arrest the offender.

The right of seizure, or, more correctly speaking, of recaption, is the right of a person to retake his property in a peaceable manner wherever he finds it. Since the United States has the same common-law rights and remedies as a private individual, it follows that the Government and its agents have the same right of recaption as an individual. Forest officers may, without special instructions, seize timber and other National Forest property wherever found, even though found upon patented land, whenever it can be done peaceably and is necessary to prevent its being sold or destroyed. When a civil suit has been instituted and a case is in the hands of the Department of Justice, Forest officers should make seizures only under in structions of the Forester, except in cases in which an immediate seizure is necessary to protect the Government from loss. In general, no seizure should be made while civil suit is pending, since the United States, having the choice of recaption or suit in the courts of law, has chosen the latter.

Timber may be seized, although manufactured into lumber and in the hands of an innocent purchaser.

Buildings and other improvements upon Government or patented land, erected from timber cut in trespass from Government land, should not be seized, unless by instruction of the Forester, since, in a permanent improvement of this nature, there is no need of immediate action until the full facts have been investigated.

Timber and other property which does not belong to the Government should not be seized, whether upon patented or upon Government land. The only exception to this rule is where a trespasser wrongfully mingles timber and other property of the Government with that of his own, in which case either the whole property may be seized, and held until the amount taken from Government land is ascertained, or if the amount taken from Government land is known, the Forest Officer may seize an equal amount of the combined property.