The first forest fire was sighted before they had been twenty minutes out of Eugene. The smoke rising from the burning timber joined to that already hanging in the air made an impenetrable barrier ahead of the plane. Bill guided the machine around the area, while Kotok obtained data as to its size, nature of material burning and the limiting natural features. Bill then flew a short distance north to the railroad in order to accurately locate the fire. It was a rather small fire, covering between two hundred and three hundred acres.