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

2. What is a crown fire?
(a) A fire that snakes along water.
(b) A fire that arcs across a gulch.
(c) A fire that surpasses a Class 5.
(d) A fire that spreads through the branches of trees.

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

4. Where did the fire starters assume the Fish Creek fire would travel?
(a) Into the deepest part of the forest.
(b) Into town.
(c) To the edge of the lake.
(d) Up the tributary in a box canyon with cliffs.

5. How long did the author hear stories about the Mann Gulch fire before he felt he needed to see it himself?
(a) About two days.
(b) About a week.
(c) About five days.
(d) About ten days.

Short Answer Questions

1. For what organization did the Smokejumpers work?

2. Where did the author stand to fight the Fish Creek fire?

3. Where was the author's cabin located?

4. How old was the author when he joined the Forest Service?

5. What did Gisborne want to do on Mann Gulch?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

3. 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?

4. 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?

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

6. 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?

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

8. How do firefighters routinely contain small forest fires?

9. 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?

10. What is the Story of the Three Winds?

(see the answer keys)

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