2. What is a "fire whirl?"
(a) A fire in a wind pattern that puts itself out.
(b) A space in a fire where there is room to breathe.
(c) A small, easily extinguished fire.
(d) A tornado-like fire that starts other fires by its motion.

3. Where did both Sylvia and Hellman die?
(a) In the speedboat back to the station.
(b) In a hospital in Butte.
(c) On the way to Missoula.
(d) In a hospital in Helena.

4. How did the author answer the question that the voice in the fire had asked?
(a) "I am okay, really."
(b) "Help me please."
(c) "I keep slipping back."
(d) "I am lost, too."

5. What did the author say he saw while fighting the Fish Creek fire?
(a) A ghost.
(b) Lightening strike a tree.
(c) Farmers moving their cows.
(d) A house on fire.

Short Answer Questions

1. When did the author first notice the Mann Gulch fire?

2. What did the Smokejumpers of Mann Gulch wear to protect their heads on the jump?

3. How long is the Smokejumper's parachute fall from the plane to the ground?

4. Where was the author's cabin located?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. How were the Smokejumpers delivered to the drop site? Who was on the plane with them? What did each man do in the mission?

3. How do firefighters routinely contain small forest fires?

4. 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?

5. 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?

6. 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?

7. What was the profile of a smokejumper in the 1940s?

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

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

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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