WHEW! THAT MAKES THE THIRD MAN-MADE FIRE "VE PUT OUT TODAY... THE SAME OLD STORY, 4 OUT OF 10_ FOREST FIRES ‘ARE CAUSED BY CARELESS OR THOUGHTLESS HUMAN BEINGS PUBLISHED AS A SERVICE OF THE AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION, 919 SEVENTEENTH ST.N.W., WASHINGTON, 0.I_WISH PEOPLE COULD : IF _HUMAN BEINGS ARE SEE SOME OF THE FOREST SO SMART, WHY DO THEY FIRES I'VE SEEN! START THESE ‘FOREST — FIRES? THEY CAN SE SMART AND STILL BE CARELESS. THE TROUBLE IS THAT HUMAN BEINGS DON'T ALWAYS THINK ABOUT WHAT THEY'RE DOING. WHEN THEY USE FIRE THEY'VE GOT TO THINK / TELL US THE ~[ OION'T THE STORY OF FOREST INDIANS START FIRES @ AND. WHAT ABOUT LIGHTNING @ YRODUCED MY COMMERCIAL COMICS, UNL, 1807 M SI, N. Wy WASHINGTON 5, D. C.Yes... IN THE EARLY DAYS, SOME FIRES WERE CAUSED BY LIGHTNING AND A FEW BY INDIANS...THE FIRST WHITE MEN COME Jo AAS WORRY ABOUT OUR FORT LOOKS LIKE ENOUGH FOR wood A THOUSAND YEARS! TRUE. IT'S «NO MATTER HOW LIKE THE AIR. WE USE IT. ¢THAT'S A STRONG {| WIND! LOOK, THE FIRE 1S GETTING \ AWAY FROM US! i 5 i “THE WIND WHIPPED THE FLAMES ACROSS UP THE HILL AND INTO THE WOODS..." “IT RACED FROM ONE TREE — TOP TO ANOTHER AND THE BRADLEY'S WERE BECAME A WILD FIRE...” HELPLESS AND DUMB WITH FEAR.”FINALLY IT HAD KILLED ALL THE TREES AND GRASS ON THE HILIS ‘AROUND . A NO, \T WAS SEVERAL fe \ YEARS BEFORE HE LEARNED THE REAL LESSON. YOU SEE... HIS FIRE RUINED A "A WATERSHED 1S LAND FROM WHICH A STREAM GETS ITS WATER. IT MAY BE AS SMALL AS A FARM OR AS BIG AS SEVERAL STATES..." «i Za ~ a “WHEN IT IS WELL COVERED WITH LIVE TREES. SHRUBS, OR GRASS, RAIN AND MELTING SNOW SINK INTO THE GROUND TO COME_ OUT SLOWLY INTO STREAMS BELOW. IF BURNED, IT MAY BE DAMAGED FOR SEVERAL YEARS !!"“HEAVY FALL RAINS WERE FOL- LOWED BY A HARD WINTER GNOW PILED DEEP ON THE BURNED STUMPS AND TREES . YOU MEAN THAT FOREST FIRES HELP CAUSE FLOODS? / Exactiy! “EACH VEAR THE FLOODS WERE WORSE AT LAST, WILL BRADLEY'S FARM WAS NO. LONGER ANY GOOD AND _HE HAD TO MOVE AWAY. HE WAS A GAD EXAMPLE OF A GOOD MAN _UWIHO WAS CARELESS AND THOUGHTLESS WITH FIRE.” “THEN CAME SPRING FLOODS AND WILL BRADLEY'S FARM LAND UWAS. COVERED WITH SAND AND GRAVEL FROM THE HILLS ABOVE “ JUST THINK OF THE FOREST AS A GIANT BLOTTER OR SPONGE WHEN THE TREES AND PLANTS: ARE DESTROYED, THERE IS NOTHING ON THE SOIL TO HELP PREVENTTHIS May GET WORSE you PEOPLE HAD BETTER COME ABOARD! I'VE SEEN FOREST FIRES BURN ENTIRE TOWNS, SPREADING TERROR, KILLING AND DESTROYING EVERY: THING IN eae- \ al nase Ss PESHTIGO WAS A SAW- THERE AD NO THOUGHT"THEN FIRE STRUCK. THE TOWN! A_SECOND GREAT BURST OF FLAME AND PESHTIGO ITSELF WAS ‘ON FIRE..." WHEN THE HORROR ENDED, NEARLY 1500 HUMAN LIVES HAD BEEN LOST! MORE THAN FIVE TIMES THE NUMBER THAT DIED IN THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE WHICH OCCURRED IN THE SAME YEAR, ON THE SAME Day .. AT THE SAME HOUR! AT PESHTIGO, OVER 280,000 ACRES OF PINE WERE BURNED WHEN FORESTS BURN, EVERYBODY ) MUST PAY. SOME ARE KILLED OR LOSE THEIR HOMES AND OTHERS LOSE THEIR JOBS. ALL THE REGT, WHEREVER THEY LIVE, MUST PAY MORE FOR THE LUMBER AND PAPER PRODUCTS THEY Buy! BUT I REMEMBER OTHER /“| FIRES .. ee —— i Za DESTROYED CLOQUET, MINNESOTA. 400 WERE KILLED! ‘TIMBER AND PROPERTY DAMAGE CAME TO 30 MILLION DOLLARS!"TELL _US, SMOKEY, WHATS [BEING DONE TO _PREVEN’ FOREST FIRES ¢ IN THE UNITED STATES, THE STATE AND FEDERAL FORESTRY AGENCIES AND MANY INDUSTRIES ARE WORKING TO "LOOKOUTS WATCH FOR FIRES. FROM THEIR TOWERS. AS SOON AS SMOKE IS SIGHTED, MEN ARE SENT TO STOP THE FIRE!"BUT EVERYONE MUST JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST FOREST FIRES AND I'D SAY THE BEST WAY TO FIGHT THEM IS TO PREVENT THEM“TELL THEM THAT USED MATCHES: SHOULD BE BROKEN IN TUIO, AND THE BURNED END SQUEEZED WITH THE FINGERS. THEN THEY WILL KNOW THEY'RE Our," ‘LL THEM THAT CIGARETTES, CIGARS, AND PIPE ASHES SHOULD BE “OUR GREATEST CRIMES To THE FORESTS ARE THE WILD FIRES SET ON PURPOSE. IT IS YOUR JoB S EVERYBODY'S JOB- TO MAKE PEOPLE KNOW THAT FIRES DESTROY HOMES, JOBS, TIMBER, FISHING AND ANIMALS LIKE Us ! * A “ TELL THEM NEVER 10 BURN GRASS, LEAVES, OR BRUSH IN HOT, DRY OR WINDY WEATHER... AND WHENEVER: THEY DO BURN THEM, TO HAVE PLENTY OF HELP, TOOLS AND WATER HANDy.* FORESTS ARE NO LONGER AS VAST AND ENDLESS AS THEY WERE IN THE DAYS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. TODAY WE NEED ALL WE HAVE LEFT!"ve THIS INTERESTING STORY OF SMOKEY BEAR WAS PRESENTED BY