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.”