Bill Bruce had no conception of the size of the State of Oregon until
he started out on his patrol the next morning with Forester Kotok. His
patrol route covered the Siuslaw and Umpqua National Forests. Starting
southwest from Eugene, it led to Marshfield on the Pacific Ocean and
then turned to the southeast to Medford. On the return trip the
turning point was almost due west of Medford and then direct to
Eugene. Both the outgoing and return flights covered a distance of
about two hundred miles. Normally it could be expected that a two
hours’ flight would be sufficient for the two hundred miles.
When a pilot is flying a forest patrol, he cannot always fly the
direct route. He diverges from his course to accurately locate and
secure the limits of each fire which he sees. Then, again, the smoke
pall may obscure the tops of the mountains and require for safety’s
sake that the plane be flown through valleys or around peaks to reach
the destination. Thus on most patrols, while the flight could be made
in two hours if the sky was clear and there were no fires located,
during the fire season the plane might be out as long as three or even
three and a half hours.
The general elevation of the terrain over which Bill was to fly was
about four thousand feet, but here and there mountain peaks stood
above the five thousand foot mark. The area was almost entirely devoid
of habitations and completely covered with a dense growth of timber
except where logging companies had operated or fire had left its
terrible scars.
Before leaving the ground, both Bill and Kotok provided themselves
with maps of the southwest corner of the state. These maps were
mounted on boards so that they could be easily handled in the plane.
Kotok desired to accurately plot the limits of every fire seen during
the flight so that a record could be made of the fires then burning.
Accordingly, Bill looked forward to a flight of three hours, if not
more, before they reached Medford.
They had no sooner left the ground and headed over the large expanse
of unbroken timber before Bill realized that he was going to find it
rather difficult to accurately locate himself on the map. There was a
strange similarity between the different sections of that area. The
mountains were all covered with timber, roads were few, there were no
railroads at all after leaving the immediate vicinity of the airdrome
and the details of the ground all looked the same. He realized that he
would have to orient himself by the rivers and streams or become
hopelessly lost.
The smoke pall made it practically impossible to distinguish the few
landmarks which were present. Everything was considerably dimmed by
the smoke. He had the choice of flying under the smoke and skimming
the tree tops or of flying above the smoke and dropping down through
when a fire was sighted. During the first part of the patrol Bill flew
under the smoke.
The first forest fire was sighted before they had been twenty minutes
out of Eugene. The smoke rising from the burning timber joined to that
already hanging in the air made an impenetrable barrier ahead of the
plane. Bill guided the machine around the area, while Kotok obtained
data as to its size, nature of material burning and the limiting
natural features. Bill then flew a short distance north to the
railroad in order to accurately locate the fire. It was a rather small
fire, covering between two hundred and three hundred acres.
After getting the data concerning the first fire, they continued on
their patrol. They picked up one fire after another. Some were quite
large and evidently had been burning for a considerable time. Others
were small, which would indicate that they had started but recently.
At times it was necessary for Bill to fly right over the fires as they
were bounded by high mountains with peaks extending into the smoke
pall.
While flying over the burning timber, Bill thought that he could hear
the crackling fire above the deafening roar of his engine. The trees
sent pillars of sparks and smoke high into the air when they fell. The
heat was intense and the air so rough that it was terrifying. The air
conditions put a severe nervous strain on Bill, for there was always
the possibility of his engine cutting out. If that had happened the
plane would have been forced to land right in the midst of the burning
trees, for with the limited ceiling the plane was just clearing the
tree tops.
The bumps threw the plane around so violently that Bill was kept busy
continuously working the controls. One wing dropped and Bill threw the
stick across to bring it up. Before he had the plane level, the nose
went down and the plane dropped at a terrific speed right toward the
burning inferno below. Several times they missed the tree tops by
inches. However, Kotok, at first more or less nervous on account of
the conditions under which they were flying, was soon hard at work
making his notes.
The heat from the fire finally sent the plane up with a bound into the
smoke cloud overhead. Once in the cloud, the fire became a glow
against the haze and then finally disappeared. Bill turned and looked
at Kotok for instructions as to what was to be done next. If Kotok was
through with that fire, they could continue the trip. If not, Bill
must dive through the smoke and brave the turbulent air above the
burning timber again. Kotok gave a sign which Bill interpreted as
meaning that he was through. Bill headed his plane along the patrol
route.
Gradually climbing, they soon emerged above the smoke cloud. They had
reached an altitude of seven thousand feet. The ground was hidden,
except when occasional mountain peaks penetrated through the cloud.
For a while they flew along above the cloud, following the compass
course. Then Kotok pointed to the right and Bill turned in that
direction.
There was a peculiar hemispherical hump protruding above the general
level of the upper surface of the smoke cloud. It looked like a
mushroom thrusting its top through the ground. As they came nearer
they could see that there was a violent disturbance of air around that
hump. The smoke had a golden glow which indicated a fire beneath. The
much needed data could never be obtained without dropping through the
cloud. With the troubles and dangerous flying conditions which Bill
had encountered above the last fire still fresh in his mind, Bill
hesitated about plunging down into the unknown.
As long as they remained above the smoke, Bill could see what was
ahead of the plane and all dangers of crashing into mountain sides was
eliminated, but driving a plane down into that thick smoke was
different. They had been sent out to get information, however, and
that data could not be obtained without seeing the fire. Accordingly
Bill pointed the nose of his plane down and hoped that they would not
run into anything before emerging from the smoke into the murky air
beneath.
Bill was not so sure that he was going to like forest patrol flying if
it necessitated much of this blind navigating. A little of it was not
so bad, but when a pilot was required to fly for mile after mile
through the muck and haze of countless fires, it put a different
aspect on the subject. Bill endeavored to get a glimpse of the ground
beneath as he circled down to the fire, but it was impossible. He was
up against a proposition of putting his entire trust in Lady Luck. If
she was with him, they would come out all right. If not, then it would
be too late to worry.
Lady Luck was kind and the plane came out into a small timber-covered
valley. The fire was some distance away and Bill turned his plane
towards it. He had enough ceiling under the smoke to fly around the
fire without any appreciable danger. The first impression they had was
that only a small area was in flames, but as they flew around it was
apparent that this was a large fire. Bill had no idea how Kotok was
going to locate it on his map. Just where they were, Bill did not
know. He had lost his location when they went up through the smoke
twenty or more minutes before.
Judging from the manner in which Kotok jotted down notes, he knew the
location accurately. He may have obtained it from the small river
which twisted around between the mountains, or it may have been the
bald, rocky peak on one of the mountains which oriented him. In any
event, this district was entirely similar to all the others as far as
Bill was concerned. Bill had to admit that he was lost. He knew that
the ocean was off to the west thirty or so miles and he could reach it
by flying a compass course. In the same way he could reach the
railroad by flying in the opposite direction, but that did not help in
getting the accurate location of such a fire as this one was. Bill
estimated that it covered at least two thousand acres.
When Kotok had completed his work, Bill again headed in a southwest
direction. Suddenly they came out over a small bay opening into the
ocean. Bill made several circles to get the lay of the land. He saw a
railroad crossing the bay and continuing to the south along the bay
shore. He located himself at last. They had reached Coos Bay.
Bill reluctantly left the low ground along the bay shore and headed
back into the timber-covered mountains. The smoke pall was not so
thick as they progressed to the south. There were fewer fires and
accordingly they made better time; with the decrease of the haze, Bill
was able to fly at a higher altitude and thus they could cover a much
greater strip of the forest in their search. That was more like the
flying that Bill had depicted that aerial patrol would be.
They skirted a mountain and came out into a valley. A stream and
railroad ran along side by side in the valley. From there on the
flight was easy. The railroad led into Medford and they landed about
thirty minutes after picking up the railroad. The flight had taken
three hours and a half, but even at that they were both on the ground
removing their flying equipment before Goldy’s plane came into sight.
“How many fires did you locate?” asked Bill when Goldy had climbed out
of his plane.
“We picked up twenty-four,” replied Goldy. “How many did you get?”
“Eleven,” replied Bill. “I can’t very well see how fires can be
started in the country we came over. We must have flown for a hundred
miles without seeing a single sign of any habitations.”
“I guess you are right at that,” commented Kotok. “The area we flew
over and will go over again this afternoon is perhaps the least
explored of any in the United States. The southwestern part of Oregon
has practically no settlements and there is no excuse for anyone going
into it unless he is a timber cruiser or a hunter. A man could get
lost there and he never would be found. He would have to find his own
way out.”
“What’s a timber cruiser?” asked Goldy.
“A man whose business it is to make estimates of the amount of timber
in a woods,” replied Kotok. “The logging companies usually have timber
cruisers go over a section before they start operations. Thus they can
form an idea of the amount of lumber they will be able to get out.”
On the return trip Bill and Kotok flew deeper than ever into that
little-traveled section of the state. The afternoon sun threw its
beams onto the leaves and made the green carpet of trees passing
beneath the plane seem like a beautiful picture. The fires were very
few for the first part of the trip and the flight very pleasant, but
after they reached Rusty Butte and turned to the north, conditions
changed. It was there that they ran into the smoke cloud again and had
more dirty flying.
They reached the Umpqua River and had but fifty more miles to do when
they saw an enormous fire The ceiling was so low that they had to fly
along just above the tree tops, and from that low height could see the
men working around the fire. It also was apparent that the fire was
confined to a bend in the river where the river turned almost back on
itself. Thus by building a fire lane across the bend the fire would
soon burn itself out. Bill at once saw the great value that an
airplane reconnaissance would be to the man in charge of a fire crew
there. In a rough section like that, a man would take hours to work
his way through the timber and over the mountains to get that
information. Kotok undoubtedly saw in a few minutes the proper place
to place the fire break.
They picked up a few more fires before reaching the Siuslaw River.
Most of them were small and apparently under control. They had reached
the area adjacent to the Willamette Valley. Here there were a few old
fires about burned out, but none of those blazing furnaces which
threatened the entire forested area like the larger ones farther away.
Bill landed his plane on the airdrome and was glad to be back at the
base. It had been hard flying with the thought continuously in his
mind that if his engine stopped he would have to land in the trees. It
would not have been so bad had the ceiling been unlimited so that he
could have gained sufficient altitude to at least try and glide to a
burned-over area or land in some second growth timber, but the thought
of making a landing in the tops of trees which were two or three
hundred feet above the ground was not so pleasant.
“Did you get them all?” asked Bill as they walked to the operations
office.
“I think so,” replied Kotok. “My map shows twenty-three fires.”
“How did you locate them without any landmarks?” asked Bill.
“You may not realize it, but I have been operating in this country for
a long time,” explained Kotok. “I have been fighting fires here for
the past seven years. These mountains all mean something to me and
they all have different shapes, covering of trees or rocky formations
by which each is distinguished from the others.”
“They all looked alike to me,” said Bill. “Perhaps, before the season
is over, I will be able to tell one from the others, but not now.”