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

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

3. What quality of Dodge's led to his escape from death by the fire?
(a) His ability to remain calm.
(b) His ability to follow the smoke.
(c) His ability to run.
(d) His ability to use tools.

4. When did the author work for the Forest Service?
(a) During the Korean War.
(b) During college.
(c) During World War I.
(d) During World War II.

5. Where did the author stand to fight the Fish Creek fire?
(a) To the left side of it.
(b) To the right side of it.
(c) In front of it.
(d) Behind it.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Where did the burned and disabled deer die?

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

4. Where did the fire starters assume the Fish Creek fire would travel?

5. Where was the author when he was startled to see a terribly burned deer?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the Story of the Three Winds?

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. Where was the author when the fire spread to the side hill trail, the firefighters' second line of defense? What important decision did he make right as he saw the fire jump from one side of the trail to the other?

4. How do firefighters routinely contain small forest fires?

5. 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?

6. Where was the ranger station in which the author was stationed? What was the commonly held belief about the Fish Creek fire? Why was this theory reasonable?

7. Who was Harry T. Gisborne? What was his contribution to the history of firefighting, and understanding the Mann Gulch fire in particular?

8. Who invented the first parachutes? What were parachutes and their cords made of then? What material were they made of in 1949 when the Smokejumpers landed on Mann Gulch? Why?

9. 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?

10. When the author returned to the spot in which he had stood when the fire jumped the trail, what did he realize about himself? What did he realize about the fire?

(see the answer keys)

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