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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. How many Smokejumpers were in the plane ready to parachute into Mann Gulch?
(a) Thirteen.
(b) Sixteen.
(c) Fifteen.
(d) Nineteen.

2. How did Dodge survive the fire?
(a) By running through the fire to a cool spot.
(b) By laying face-down in the ashes of his escape fire.
(c) By running into an opening in the reef.
(d) By laying face down in the smoldering grass.

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

4. When was the U.S. Forest Service established?
(a) 1910.
(b) 1905.
(c) 1900.
(d) 1915.

5. Who told the author about the Mann Gulch fire when he came to town?
(a) The shop keeper.
(b) A neighbor.
(c) The postmistress.
(d) The fire marshall.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did the author hear a voice say to him as he ran to avoid being killed in the Fish Creek fire?

2. How did the additional firefighters needed in Mann Gulch get there?

3. Where did the firefighters go as the fire spread toward them in Fish Creek?

4. What did the Fish Creek fire sound like as the author looked for an escape?

5. Who invented the "escape fire?"

Short Essay Questions

1. What important question did the author ask Mrs. Brown after his experience with the fire at Fish Creek? What was her answer?

2. What were the topographical differences in the north and the south sides of the mountains separated by Mann Gulch? What did these conditions have to do with the fire?

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

4. Why did the author finally decide he needed to see the Mann Gulch fire the summer he was staying in his cabin at Seely Lake?

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. Why did Dodge, Sallee, and Rumsey escape death from the fire, and the other men, including Hellman and Diettert, did not?

7. Where was the big fire the author had fought when he was in the Forest Service? How did the people living in the area support themselves and their families?

8. What is a crown fire? How does it become ignited? What does it sound like in the forest? What elements are necessary to create a crown fire?

9. 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?

10. When was the fire at Mann Gulch? Where was the author at the time of the fire? When the author arrived in the small town at Seely Lake, how did he learn of the fire at Mann Gulch? What did he learn about the death of the smokejumpers who were sent to fight the fire?

(see the answer keys)

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