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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. When did the author first hear a voice in the fire during the Fish Creek fire?

2. How did Jansson identify Harrison's body?

3. Who did the author first think the voice he heard in the fire belonged to?

4. Who named the area around Mann Gulch the "Gates of the Mountains?"

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

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

4. How did the firefighters at the Forest Service think the fire would spread? Why did they think the fire starters had the same idea?

5. What important question did the author ask Mrs. Brown after his experience with the fire at Fish Creek? What was her answer?

6. 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?

7. 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?

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

9. 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?

10. As the author was running up the hillside away from the creek, where was the fire? What choices did he have for escape? What happened when he was half way up the hillside?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 3

Maclean and Laird Richardson developed three main questions for which they would seek answers during their study of the Mann Gulch fire. What were those three questions, and did the two men find the answers? If so, what were the answers they found?

(see the answer keys)

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