JULY 28, 1978 PAGE 9
FIRE CONTROL -
IT'S CHANGED THROUGH THE YEARS
(FROM HORSTS TO HELICOPTERS)
said Whalawitsa.
The helicopter can also be
used to ferry men and equip
ment into an area where the
terrain is difficult or inacces
sible by vehicle.
Located on Kah-Nee-Ta
Road by the two blue w are
houses, the Fire Control Office
has mobile tankers available, a
14-man crew, and can call upon
the Redmond Air Base for assis
tance if necessary.
But despite all the modem
equipment and manpower at
their disposal, fire prevention is
the by-word at the Fire Control
PINPOINTING THE FIRE
Office.
When two lookouts radio in their reading to the Fire Control Office,
Of the 14 wild-fires so far Larry W halawitsa can plot the ex a ct location of a fire which is
this year, eleven have been pinpointed where the two lines converge. Having determined the
man-caused and only two were location and nature of a fire, he can have men and equipm ent
started by lightning strikes. mobilized within a matter of minutes. Response time to the four-acre
And the thing that angers grass fire ea rlier this month near the Moody resid en ce was six
Rangila Photo
Whalawitsa the most is man- minutes.
caused fires.
What worries Whalawitsa
Although m ethods and
recalled. “ Most of us were In
the most this year is the great equipment have advanced to the
dians, and one day a guy shot a
number of blowdowns. “ I t’s point where forest fires are
deer and we all forgot about that
bad,” he states. “It’s all down more easily controlled now,
beef,” he quipped.
and as it cures the fire danger Harry Davis rem em bers the
Just maybe those men gain
will increase.” The blowdowns stubborn Lion’s Head Fire in
ed a bit of insight as to how it
concern him because it adds to 1955 where the crews had to set
was during the time of a forest
the fire load above and beyond up camp for 21 days, a bit like in
fire in years gone by. “It’s easy
the thinning and logging slash the 1920’s.
to rom anticize about the old
that is lying around. So Fire
“ Pack horses were sent in
days,” someone said as he put
Control is keeping an eye on that with supplies of rations and
down his coke to answer the
area of the reservation.
beef, and it was kind of fun,” he
phone.
'V
1
♦
W 'S
MU ,
THE EYE IN THE SKY
Pilot Jim Henderschot arrived with the helicopter for this year’s fire
season - July 1 to Septem ber 15. The second year it ’s been in
operation at Fire Control, the helicopter cuts down on the time it
takes to get moisture on a fire. The 50-gallon water bucket may not
look like much, but in three drops it equals the capacity of a small
tanker.
Rangila Photo
by Sandy Rangila
In the summer of 1927 when
a dry, frustrated storm lashed
the reservation with whips of
lightning, scores of fires were
ignited in the range and forest
land.
All the way into Warm
Springs the night sky glowed
feverishly as winds fanned the
flames into an orange monster
which threatened to consume a
good portion of tribal timber-
land.
But no helicopters or retard
ant planes moved in to slow the
progress of the inferno. No
hotshots with red helmets para
chuted in near the fire lines.
When heading out to a forest
fire in those days, men loaded
up strings of packhorses with
supplies from the commissary
near what is now the old admini
stration building.
The firefighters rode out as
far as they could in truck beds
over dusty and often muddy
roads, then either hiked in on
foot or led in the pack trains by
horseback. But most of the men
walked in to where a base camp
was set up for the duration.
And once they got to the fire
line there were no chain saws or
1000-gallon pumpers to aid them
in their battle against one of
nature’s most awesome and ter
rifying forces.
Today there exists a swift
network of communication so
that in the event of a forest fire,
it can be doused in a hurry.
Telex and electronic equipment
spew out data on a daily basis so
lightning fires can often be
predicted well in advance
through knowledge of approach
ing storms.
Sophisticated methods of
fire detection enable fire control
personnel to detect and pinpoint
the location of a fire in short
order, once it has started.
Imm ediately after a light
ning storm , the fire control
helicopter (now in its second
season here) goes out on recon
naissance to hunt down any spot
fires that may have been touch
ed off.
But according to Fire Con
trol Manager Larry Whalawitsa,
it is usually the lookouts at
Sidwalter, Eagle Butte, and Shi-
tike Butte who spot and report
the fires first. Whalawitsa or
Assistant M anager Harrison
Davis take a reading from two
of the lookouts, and with that
information they can plot the
exact location of the fire on the
map-board.
Vital data such as temper
ature, humidity, wind direction,
and weather forecasts all play a
role in fire supression once it is
detected.
Mobilization of men and
machinery is swift once a fire
has been reported and located. -
In the initial stage of a fire,
the helicopter, piloted by Jim
Henderschot, can dump 50 gal
lons of w ater at a time to
immediately raise the humidity
at the fire site. “ In the later
stages he works the hot spots,”
CREW HEADING OUT TO A FOREST FIRE
Smoke filled the sky during the summer of 1927 when this photo was taken in Warm Springs near what is
now the old administration building. There used to be a commissary in that area where the men were
recruited and loaded up with supplies. They rode as far as possible on the rough roads, then hiked in to
the base camp where they stayed for the duration of the fire.
(Photo courtesy BIA Forestry)
PACK TRAIN AT BALD PETER LOOKOUT
The year is uncertain, but it is probably in the 1920’s or 1930’s, and the man standing on thé horse is
thought to be Wesley Smith. Supplies for fire fighters, rangers and lookout crews were hauled in by such
pack trains in those days. Even in 1955 during the Lion’s Head Fire, rations were brought in by horse.
The lookout tower in the background no longer exists.
(Photo courtesy BIA Forestry)