No doubt this winter there are many fire officials having discussions about last year’s horrendous fires. During the winter of 1924-25 Fruit Growers Supply Company officials plotted out a new course of fire prevention after a brutal forest fire season.

In 1925 Fruit Growers adopted a new method, building a series of fire lanes. The fire lanes were 100 feet wide and completely void of vegetation, each encircling 100-acre sections of timber. They were formed by a specialV-drag hooked to a 60-Caterpillar tractor which could clear up to six miles of fire lines a day. The lanes not only served as firebreaks, but provided quick access in an emergency.

During the fire season, two crews of eight to ten men worked as fire prevention team. It was their job to build fire lines, oversee brush and slash piling, remove dead snags and maintain the company’s private telephone lines. Telephone “boxes” were attached throughout the forest, allowing for daily monitoring between the logging camps and the mill. The telephone system was also used to report fire or an accident when medical aid was needed.

By the end of 1932, the 178 miles of fire lanes constructed over 26,000 acres had proved very effective. Even though three of the. seven years it took to build them were critical fire years, only 53 acres burned. From 1925 to1940, prevention cost $40,373.54, fire fighting only $7,546.65. During World War II the construction of fire lanes was abandoned.

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