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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did the first Smokejumpers call the fires into which they jumped?
(a) Ten o'clock fires.
(b) Sneak peeks.
(c) Easy money.
(d) No big deal.

2. When did the Forest Service begin using planes to spot fires?
(a) 1930.
(b) 1925.
(c) 1935.
(d) 1920.

3. What did the author feel while he was running away from the Fish Creek fire?
(a) Confusion.
(b) Fear.
(c) Excitement.
(d) Confidence.

4. What is a "fire whirl?"
(a) A space in a fire where there is room to breathe.
(b) A small, easily extinguished fire.
(c) A tornado-like fire that starts other fires by its motion.
(d) A fire in a wind pattern that puts itself out.

5. Where did the fire starters light the forest fire in Fish Creek?
(a) Close to the Forest Service station.
(b) Near the mouth of the tributary.
(c) In the middle of the forest.
(d) At the edge of a clearing.

6. What color was the face of the ghost walking next to the author on the mountain?
(a) Grey.
(b) Red.
(c) Orange.
(d) Black.

7. How many feet does a Smokejumper fall before his parachute opens?
(a) Seventy-five.
(b) Twenty.
(c) Fifty.
(d) Twelve.

8. What was one reasonable cause of the Mann Gulch fire advanced by scientists?
(a) A second lightning strike.
(b) Crown fire.
(c) Fire whirls.
(d) A thunderhead which sat on the fire.

9. In what novel is an escape fire used by an old trapper to save his party?
(a) American Fur Trade of the Far West.
(b) My Antonia.
(c) The Sound and the Fury.
(d) The Prairie.

10. What did the author hear a voice say to him as he ran to avoid being killed in the Fish Creek fire?
(a) "How're you doing, sonny?"
(b) "Can you see your way out?"
(c) "Are you lost, too?"
(d) "I have to go with you."

11. Who named the area around Mann Gulch the "Gates of the Mountains?"
(a) Smith and Gulch.
(b) Clark and Simon.
(c) Lewis and Clark.
(d) Merriweather and Smith.

12. Who was destroying the food supply for the abundant animal population in the area?
(a) The sheep herders.
(b) The locusts.
(c) The farmers.
(d) The fox population.

13. What is the cause of 75% of forest fires?
(a) Campfires.
(b) Spontaneous combustion.
(c) Smoldering cigarettes.
(d) Lightning.

14. How many acres of land burned in the Mann Gulch fire?
(a) 4,500 acres.
(b) 7,500 acres.
(c) 5,000 acres.
(d) 2,500 acres.

15. How did the additional firefighters needed in Mann Gulch get there?
(a) By hiking up the side of the gulch.
(b) By jeep to within a mile of the fire
(c) By boat on the Missouri River.
(d) By plane and parachute.

Short Answer Questions

1. How long is the Smokejumper's parachute fall from the plane to the ground?

2. Why are parachutes made of nylon instead of silk?

3. Where did the author begin running when the Fish Creek fire caught at the next fire line?

4. Where did Sallee and Rumsey run to get out of the fire's path?

5. What important accomplishment did Louis-Sebastien Lenormand achieve in 1783?

(see the answer keys)

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