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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. Where did the author go after climbing over the ridge away from the Fish Creek fire?
(a) The fishing lodge owned by his father's cousin.
(b) The hunting lodge used by the locals in the winter.
(c) The fishing lodge he had read about in a brochure.
(d) The hunting lodge where he and his father had hunted together.

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

3. Who did the author believe started the forest fire at Fish Creek?
(a) The sheep herders.
(b) The homesteaders.
(c) Local hoodlums.
(d) The fire deparment.

4. What did the fire look like when it jumped the trail at Fish Creek?
(a) A two alarm blaze.
(b) A stove fire.
(c) A wall of fire.
(d) A small Indian campfire.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. When did the Forest Service begin using planes to spot fires?

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

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

4. What was Frank Derry wearing on one infamous jump?

5. What did Mrs. Brown say to the author when she opened the door?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. 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?

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

5. 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?

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

7. What is the Story of the Three Winds?

8. What did the author know about hiking boots? Why were they important? What kind of boots was he wearing the day of the Fish Creek fire? Why?

9. What did the ghost finally ask the author? What happened when the author answered the question? How did he react?

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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