[Illustration: Figure 41. A forest fire on the Wasatch National Forest, Utah. Forest officers trying to stop a forest fire by cutting a fire line. Note the valuable growth of young trees which they are trying to save on the right.]
_Forest Fire Organization._ The forest fire organization, whether it be on the whole National Forest or upon the Ranger district, consists of three agencies: the fire detection agencies, the fire reporting agencies, and the fire fighting agencies. All these must work in absolute harmony without interruption of any kind, to obtain the maximum of efficiency. The detection agencies consist of the lookout men, stationed at high, advantageous points which overlook large areas, and the moving patrolmen, who are assigned to definite beats or territory which cannot be adequately reached by the lookouts. Lookout men live in small cabins on the tops of high mountains, and they watch for fires constantly. In regions which have very few high points and which are not suited to that method of detection, moving patrolmen are employed. These men move about on foot, on horseback, on railroad speeders, in automobiles, or in any other conveyance adapted to the country they are in.
When the detectors find a fire they report it immediately to the nearest Forest Ranger or the Forest Supervisor. The Forest Ranger in whose district the fire is located is logically the first man to be informed, but telephone connections and other conditions sometimes alter this procedure. Just because a fire is found in, we will say, Ranger district number one, does not necessarily mean that the Forest Ranger of this district is the proper man to be notified. The fire may be at the very outer boundary of his district and may be much more easily accessible to the Forest Ranger in district number two. In any case it is all arranged beforehand just exactly who shall be notified in case of a fire in each and every corner of a National Forest. Each man in the organization has his duties and responsibilities determined for him in advance and he does his part without being prodded or reminded. The location of a fire in the wild and inaccessible forest regions of the West, which may seem a very simple matter, is determined in a very ingenious manner.