USFS Archives
It was twenty-six years before the song "I've been workin' on the railroad" was written, when much was happening around this area on the railroad. Who knows if those men actually working on fire prevention and fire suppression in the area were singing, "Ah been workin' on the railroad, all the live long day. I've been workin' on the railroad, just to pass the time away..." or just a-singin' the newer song, "Take dis Job and Shove it!" But fires were plaguing the area, just like other railroad locations across the southwest. So, some good ideas had to come about to help combat them, or even prevent them.
It was 1910 and the Forest Service had a novel idea on how to get around in remote areas where roads were still nonexistent. They used the railroad tracks. Tires were taken off the automobile, and the car was driven on the rims on the tracks. The horse and pack mule was still the transportation of choice, until 1940 that is. The automobile was used for a different reason at this point of time, other than hauling supplies. It was used as a fire prevention tool. Many fires, especially in Cajon Pass, were accidentally caused by the railroad; for this reason the first fire lookout in the San Bernardino Forest was erected in Cajon Canyon, which overlooked Cajon Pass. In 1914 the Ver Bryck Fire Lookout was constructed. In the same fashion, this railroad track-traveling auto was also used to checked the sides of the railroad tracks to insure that nothing was ignited by the hot ash and sparks of wood or coal-fired steam engines.
Early trains working their way through the Cajon Pass divide were known to cause bad brush fires. (Photo: photographer Donald Duke, John Robinson "The San Bernardinos", 1989; Big Santa Ana Historical Society publication).
Because of brush fire caused by railroads, most railroads took advantage of winter precipitation to perform preventive wildfire maintenance on its rights of way, which extend about 50 feet on either side of the track. The maintenance included weed abatement, cutting back brush and removing pine trees growing too close to the tracks. As years followed, they set small controlled fires in high-risk areas to eliminate overgrown ground cover. Usually, the fire prevention project took place in early-to middle-spring months. Meanwhile, the Forest Service constructed firebreaks to insure that wildfire did not spread into residential area. The firebreak was also a vital tool in keeping fires small- easier to contain and easier to put out.
(Photo: photographer Bruce Risher, John Robinson "The San Bernardinos", 1989; Big Santa Ana Historical Society publication).
In a program started in 1919 and ended after the 1921 fire season, U.S. Army scout planes conducted aerial fire/smoke patrols over the southeast portions of the Angeles and the southern regions of San Bernardino National Forest. The few scout planes were based at March Air Force Base.
A Forest Service firefighting crew mops up this Lytle Creek fire in 1914. The only tools available were the shovel and the rake. The water was mostly used for drinking, as indicated by the "banjo" canteens that sat on the ground within arms reach of the crew. Since excess water and snacks slowed down the crews, all of the meal time was well after the fire was surrounded and put out. There were no breaks and no relief crews. Since established fire crews were still in its infancy, any available body helped, including Angeles National Forest Supervisor Rush Charlton. As decades would follow, any warm body that was trainable, and who passed the dreaded "step test" & the exam and was given a "red card", fought fire. They became the most dedicated stewards of the forest.
This particular fire involved over several hundred acres. The sixty-five firefighters of this fire would put today's firefighter crews to shame. They stopped the fire before it could do major damage to the watershed with just the shovel and rake...and an occasional blanket to smother the flames! (Above and below photographs-photographer believed to by Harvey Rollin Cheesman, Lytle Creek ranger 1914, Terry Graham Collection)
Just a flashback on yesteryears fire prevention
