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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 the author first notice the Mann Gulch fire?
(a) August, 1949.
(b) July, 1949.
(c) June, 1949.
(d) August, 1948.

2. Where did the author begin running when the Fish Creek fire caught at the next fire line?
(a) Toward the lake.
(b) Back to the fire house.
(c) Uphill.
(d) Downhill.

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

4. What was Frank Derry wearing on one infamous jump?
(a) A Cowardly Lion costume.
(b) A Smokey the Bear costume.
(c) A Santa Claus outfit.
(d) Nothing.

5. Where was the author's cabin located?
(a) In Missoula, Montana.
(b) In Mann Gulch, Montana.
(c) In Smiley Lake, Montanta.
(d) In Seeley Lake, Montana.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the cause of 75% of forest fires?

2. Where did the burned and disabled deer die?

3. How did the author describe the sound of the fire getting very close?

4. When did the author first hear a voice in the fire during the Fish Creek fire?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What is a Pulanski? Where did it come from? What does it do? Who is it named after?

2. 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?

3. 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?

4. What are the roles of the foreman and the second-in-command in a jump team of firefighters? What is each man responsible for during the approach to the fire?

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

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

7. What are the two causes of fires? What caused the Mann Gulch fire? Where did the fire start? How?

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

9. 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?

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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