Mon. 6 equ ipm aie | Teady and waiting by RALPHRESCHKE’ & Herald Stati Writer -‘TERRACE— The. ministry -of' forests ” declared the beginning of - the: 1894: fire.'geagon: on * April 15; and the. local forest service office has. hired ‘a: six-man- initial--. response attack crew to . be. stationed in the area - Smithers but they:can be refueled and reloaded for the duration of the fire - ORSON. 1: These. men. are trained . in ‘helicopter: operations and: attack’, procedures . and have 8. full com: Plement of fire fighting _ equipment; sJoe. Katasonoff, resource officer in the fire prevention program, says this year could be a. ‘enough, more: ‘equipment ‘ean. be brought In from - the regional warehouse in Smithers, As. well, . the forest - ‘service has | a DC-6 chemical bomber and two apmaller’ Avenger air- yplanes also ‘equipped for fire fighting. - The planes are based in with the chemical: fire retardant at a base at the Terrace airport. The use of helicopters adn controlling forest fires . haa: - also ’ Increased recently and fortunately - for this area, .there are two helicopter operations that the service can call particularly dry because |. upon. of-litte snow during the winter, - = “Snow pack figures are 50 per cent of the yearly . average and fire danger will be high if the rainfall. doesn’t increase," says Katasonoff, adding that ‘in the past when. the winter has been mild, the ~ summers “are usually. wet, ‘He aad ‘the forest: service bases its fire... danger’ rating onthe | amount:-of- moisture found. in a number of different’ layers of niaterjal covering - ‘the ground. woos With these. ‘findings, and . considering . the weather - outlook -for a certain area, ‘the air temperature © and wind. speed, the forest service calculates the fire danger. rating, — This monitoring system is.known as the Canadian forest fire weather index. Monitoring stations. are located - all. across: the: province, The area that this district office covers ima-large one, extending north to Bob Quinn Lake and: -south to Princess ' Royal Island. Wastwards, the boundary for the patrol coverage is. Saivus: Highs ix "Katasonotf says. that a . major problem for the - forest service is’ people who burn slash or debris - ‘on .thelr property -but aren’t familiar: with: the correct procedure to follow. “Someone will come in asking for a: burning ‘permit to burn; some debris. on: his’ property, and-they've got the fire’ going 15 feet away from . the... house,” .. says — Katasonoff. .. aa Another threat: to. the . forests’: are. careless. smokers: ‘dnd, children’ ‘with matches, ‘both of which ‘have. been the cause of many damaging fires, Hie feel thint if parents would ‘keep: potential sources of fire away from children, the . problem would - reduced,! ‘ The ares? service haa a Mhour emergency . toll:': fiee phone numbed that should be used if: anyone sees a forest fire. The number is Zenith-5555, If you have any questions about burning permits, how and when to burn debris and alash, Give the forest service a phone call at CO-ED. ‘ way Camp