Show parachutes Parah utes jeeps halftracks Half tracks flamethrowers will be used in Peace peacetime the to battle forest fires methods devised for war are being adapted to save timber resources the swords of war become the plowshares of peace and this time mars has some weapons that are going to come in mighty handy in ili the never ending battle against forest fires some very logical questions a are re being asked today why not use fire extin puishing gui shing bombs bombi to drop on forest fires why not use bombers equipped with precision sights to aim these bombs why not use firefighting parachute troops to dro drop behind in enemy lines or to tra transport s ort to fire regions difficult to n negotiate by land the e man chois expected to take charge of this program Is david godwin a veteran of the forest service I 1 who has been active in anti antl fire ex experimental erf mental work for a number of years godwin already has investigated the possibility of dive bombi bombing ng forest fires using bombs which in reali reality were exploding fire extinguishers that however was a number 0 of f years ago and meet with much success it was difficult the experimenters found to hit the exact spot where the bomb extinguishers would do the most good and there was difficulty in covering a sufficiently large area aviation enthusiasts however are counting upon effective bombsight bomb sight and other precision instruments to change this situation As an alternative they believe there may be great possibilities in the use of heli bell copters copiers no doubt a fleet of bombing planes planel could be used to advantage in blasting a fire out of a forest e specially especially with ground support from a paratrooper battalion tile the use of parachute dropped broo troops ps t to 0 light fight forest fires was first tried a few years ago and they have been seeing action in this capacity ever since but there never has been enough of them to combat a really big fire this number can be expanded greatly after the war and the wartime training of paratroop combat units can bring about the organization of a formidable fire tight 9 force jeep will be fire engine when it comes to postwar post war tech hiques sIn in forest fire fighting however it maj may be not only the use of waves of bombing planes and parachute troops to augment the present forces the ubiquitous jeep accustomed cus tomed to the jungle trails of new guinea and the difficult terrain of africa and italy is already recommended om by professional foresters its as highly suitable for service as a miniature fire engine likewise the walkie talkie radio unquestionably will be used by the thousands to keep in contact between fire chiefs their crewmen aviation spotters pilots and paratroopers overhead half tracks which combine automobile to speeds with tank and tractor ability to negotiate swamps and rugged land can serve efficiently as big brother to the jeeps and tor for use as bulldozers to scrape fire trail barriers to the progress s 0 of f dozers already are essential firefighting equipment throwers developed by the chemical warfare service may be called upon for building back bach 4 1 11 k at ma 11 4 A 1 I r IT hii 4 1 I V I 1 U As soon as a forest ranger spots afire fire lie he radios for the flying firefighters here a smoke jumper is making a feather bed landing in the tops aps ops of a young coniferous growth fires burning out areas in the path of spreading hig flames accompanying them would be men with fire are extinguishers to guard against the back fires getting out of control the paratrooper however will doubtless have a glory and a duty all his own his greatest service will come from the fact that he can get there first once a watcher from a fire tower or from a patrolling plane spots smoke it need be only a few minutes until a paratrooper can land within 50 or yards of the blaze and by getting there while ahil e the fire is just starting he will be b e able in many cases to extinguish I 1 it t without additional help paratroopers by hundred but when long periods of dryness have rendered the forests highly inflammable and fires fire spread quickly a radio summons from the spotters can bring reinforcements in a hurry A single big plane may bring a score or more paratroopers a dozen planes could bring them by the hundreds with their faces protected by plastic masks heads covered with padded helmets and bodies covered with non ripping fabrics to spare them injuries in case of treetop tree top landings and with colls coils of rope handy tor for quick descent from the trees the paratroopers can reach a fire many precious minutes sooner than men on trucks or horseback can generally arrive portable firefighting fire fighting devices that are strapped to a mans back are already standard forest equipment suitable for the paratroopers sometimes these are hand pumps with a small tank of water an alternative device uses water but builds the pressure behind it with carbon dioxide either in its liquid form or in the form of adry dry ice some portable extinguishers use carbon dioxide itself to play upon the fires it snuffs them out by driving away the oxygen extinguishers of greater capacity and other supplies will be attached to parachutes and dropped from other planes meantime the jeeps and half tracks trucks and bulldozers will be moving up with other reinforcements and supplies they may bring the flame throwers th rowers to build back fires if necessary bring long lines of hose and high pressure pumps powered by motors which are twins to those used on rowboats with the high pressure equipment be able to combat fires in snags dead trees which are an especial menace because they tend to carry ground fires upward to the th tops of other trees ground reinforcements when a forest fire bre goes into the tree tops ft t Is about as difficult to check as any fire can possibly be in an old farest abrown a crown fire may be as high above ground as the story of a skyscraper with no automatic sprinkler system to help after landing the smoke jumper un straps his parachute and goes to work with his portable fire extinguisher lie ile carries other tools tool such as axes and spades the heavier equipment cad can be dropped by parachute when necessary combat a bat it and plenty of oxygen to make it burn freely thus it if the original are alre does get out ot of control ot of the first paratroopers to reach I 1 it t and proves too big for the first reinforcements also it Is almost certain that the third wave of 0 paratroopers and ground forces will resort to building backfires back fires and digging tre trenches as the maximum effort to check it bulldozers and plow equipped halftracks half tracks will mechanize a large part of the digging job men with game flame throwers and extinguishers gui gul will handle the backfires back fires other men with gasoline powered chain saws will clear the path of the bulldozers and half tracks of 0 trees too big tor for them to bowl over america has a big stake in forest lands forest operators are seeing to it that our trees continue to grow but they know that fire is the biggest menace to growth they need weapons with which to fight fires and they expect those that this war provides will help to keep a better con arol over this persistent enemy |