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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many feet does a Smokejumper fall before his parachute opens?

2. Who was the head of the Helena National Forest Canyon Ferry District?

3. What was the severely burned deer doing as the author watched?

4. What did the first Smokejumpers call the fires into which they jumped?

5. Where did the author go after climbing over the ridge away from the Fish Creek fire?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. What did the author do when he reached the top of the ridge? What did he decide to do next?

3. 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?

4. 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?

5. 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?

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

7. When was the fire at Mann Gulch? Where was the author at the time of the fire? When the author arrived in the small town at Seely Lake, how did he learn of the fire at Mann Gulch? What did he learn about the death of the smokejumpers who were sent to fight the fire?

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

9. How do firefighters routinely contain small forest fires?

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When he was young, Maclean worked for the Forest Service. His experience fighting one particular fire greatly influenced his desire to study the Mann Gulch fire. What was that experience? Why was it important?

Essay Topic 2

Henry Thol, Sr. was the leader of the group of families suing the Forest Service for the wrongful death of their family members. Discuss Mr. Thol and the impact he had on the Mann Gulch fire. What was his opinion of how the young men died in the fire? Why was it important to Maclean's investigation?

Essay Topic 3

When speaking about the young men who were Smokejumpers in the 1940s, Maclean explains that these men wanted to make it clear "to themselves and to the universe that they love the universe but are not intimidated by it and will not be shaken by it, no matter what it has in store." Discuss this quote in light of the profile of a typical smokejumper, and the specific Smokejumpers who landed in Mann Gulch into the fire.

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