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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 Maclean say was evidence of the strength of the fire when it hit the Smokejumpers on the ridge?
(a) It blew the watches from their wrists.
(b) It melted the soles of their shoes.
(c) It singed the hair on their heads.
(d) It blew the clothes off of their bodies.

2. When on the ridge in Mann Gulch, what did Maclean witness Sallee and Rumsey argue about?
(a) Where Thol's marker should actually be.
(b) Where Diettert died.
(c) Where Dodge had lit his fire.
(d) Where Hellman actually fell.

3. What did Sallee and Rumsey say as they went up the last hillside?
(a) "My God, do not let me die this way!"
(b) "My God, why did this happen to me?"
(c) "My God, please let me live!"
(d) "My God, how could you do this to me?"

4. What is "Red Skies of Montana?"
(a) A movie made about the Mann Gulch Fire.
(b) A book written about the Mann Gulch Fire.
(c) The new branch of the Smokejumpers.
(d) The name given to the Gates of the Mountains.

5. To what did Maclean compare the fire lower on the hillside as it met the escape fire set by Dodge?
(a) Deranged soldiers running blindly into the smoke and fire.
(b) Deranged serpents searching for food.
(c) Deranged military monsters enraged by the obstacle in front of them.
(d) Deranged mice running toward a mouse hole and hitting a wall.

Short Answer Questions

1. When was the only time Smokejumpers were allowed to be alone while fighting a fire?

2. Of what material are the Mann Gulch crosses made?

3. Who was the chief forester in Washington D.C. at the time of the Mann Gulch fire?

4. What did Maclean's wife die from?

5. Who did the author reference when he compared ghosts and tragic heroes?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Maclean mean when he said, "viewing total conflagration is literally blinding, as sight becomes sound."

2. What did the land in Mann Gulch look like in the aftermath of the fire?

3. How did the author describe the final moments of the men's lives before the fire overtook them? What elements of nature were prominent in their lives just before their deaths? How did they actually die?

4. How did Maclean explain the picture of a big fire? What was it made up of in his opinion?

5. What was the movie released in 1952 about the Mann Gulch fire? What does Maclean note about the film and its historic accuracy?

6. As Maclean began his comparison of the Smokejumpers' run to the top of the ridge to a race run on a track, how did he compare the race run by the Smokejumpers and that of the athlete on a track?

7. What does Maclean believe has become the symbol of fear in the late twentieth century? What artist does he site as support for this claim?

8. When Maclean and his group began their trek to Mann Gulch, how did Maclean respond to those who were concerned about his heart being strong enough to make it to the site of the fire?

9. What did the author mean when he spoke of bi-visual and tri-visual?

10. Who is the firsthand source of information Maclean and his investigative partner Laird Robinson set out to find before they did anything else? Why? Who were they looking for?

(see the answer keys)

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