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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When did Dodge return to Missoula?
(a) When his crew was all accounted for.
(b) When he collapsed from exhaustion.
(c) When his wife came to pick him up.
(d) When Jansson ordered him to.

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

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

4. Where was the Fish Creek fire when the author finally stopped running?
(a) East of him.
(b) Directly behind him.
(c) Both in front of and behind him.
(d) West of him.

5. For what organization did the Smokejumpers work?
(a) The Air Force.
(b) The Army.
(c) The National Guard.
(d) The Forest Service.

Short Answer Questions

1. When was the U.S. Forest Service established?

2. What is a "fire whirl?"

3. What animal was Fish Creek known for having in abundance?

4. What happened to Jansson after the Mann Gulch fire?

5. What did the fire look like when it jumped the trail at Fish Creek?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was Robert Jansson? What was his part in the Mann Gulch fire?

2. How did the firefighters at the Forest Service think the fire would spread? Why did they think the fire starters had the same idea?

3. What actually happened at the Fish Creek fire that was not part of the plan? How did the fire spread? What surprises of nature awaited the Forest Service firefighters?

4. Why were the grasses so high on the north side at the time of the fire? What implications did this have for the Mann Gulch fire?

5. What did the Fish Creek fire look like as it jumped the trail? What choices did the author have the moment he decided to stand in front of the fire to try to put it out?

6. As the author was running up the hillside away from the creek, where was the fire? What choices did he have for escape? What happened when he was half way up the hillside?

7. Why did Dodge set a fire in front of the fire raging toward himself and his men on Mann Gulch? What was he trying to accomplish? Why did his men not follow his orders?

8. To what did Maclean compare the smokejumper's jump from the plane? Why?

9. What did the author do when he reached the top of the ridge? What did he decide to do next?

10. What did the author learn about the Mann Gulch fire smokejumpers? How did this affect him? Why was the author so interested in the news of the Mann Gulch fire?

(see the answer keys)

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