Quiz nodded. "The head of the fire is determined by the direction in which it's spreading the fastest. Right?"
"Right. All fires have a roughly circular shape to begin with. But depending on air currents, slope of the terrain and available fuel, they soon take on direction. Usually they assume an elliptical shape, sort of like an egg, with the fat part of the egg representing the head. We always attack the head first--stop the advance. Then we can work down the flanks to the rear.
"Our fire line will be about one hundred feet long. I'd say this particular fire calls for a trench about two feet wide through the duff and litter; we've got to get down to mineral soil. Everything inflammable must be cleared off this path. Bushes or low-hanging branches that the flames can reach have to be removed or avoided."
At this point, he stopped talking to lay out the fire line, tracing its path through the forest with a hoe. It was a zigzag route which detoured around bushes that were too large to be uprooted and low-hanging tree branches. "We avoid anything that would give the flames a chance to leap the fire line," Dick explained.
As soon as the boundaries were clearly defined, he distributed the tools and assigned specific jobs to everyone. Russell Steele showed as much respect for the young ranger as any enlisted man had ever accorded a general. Sandy and Jerry worked with the hoes, breaking the first ground. Their job consisted mainly in clearing a swath through the loose litter, shoving it in toward the advancing flames.
Dick Fellows and Russ Steele came in back of them with Pulaski tools, hacking out stubborn roots and small shrubs and cutting deeper into the duff. Quiz brought up the rear with a shovel, scooping up loose matter that had tumbled back into the ditch and sluicing a light layer of soil across the ground in front of the line. They worked intently, without speaking, to conserve their wind; and the line grew rapidly. Still, the fire was within two feet of the barrier when Quiz sent the last shovel of dirt rattling into the waist-high flames.
The heat was searing, and their lobster-red faces streamed with perspiration. Their clothing was soaked and streaked with dirt. Jerry and Quiz staggered back from the line and collapsed on the ground.