The Scouts all checked in, and after washing up, watched the crew of rangers attack the fire.
A tractor widened and completed the ditch started by the Scouts. This task accomplished, rangers beat out some of the flames which had jumped the “break,” and hooked up a power pump.
Sleep was out of the question for the excited Scouts. They kept in orderly groups, but remained at the assembly room windows, watching every phase of the efficient fire fighting work.
The Beaver Patrol girls, those of the Lone Tree unit, and the Oriole outfit, volunteered to help in the kitchen. Gallons of coffee were prepared for the rangers.
“We’ve made enough for an army of workers!” Judy laughed.
The beverage was kept hot, ready to serve whenever a tired fire fighter could leave his post.
By four o’clock, the rangers announced that the fire finally was under complete control. Relaxing a bit from their arduous labors, the men took turns dropping around at the kitchen for coffee and a sandwich.
Arthur Wentz, one of the first rangers to come, praised the Scouts warmly for their well organized efforts prior to the arrival of the forest service truck.
“This could have been a bad fire,” he remarked. “There are three types—surface, ground and crown. But all start as surface fires.”
Judy asked the ranger to distinguish between the different classifications.