They reached the Umpqua River and had but fifty more miles to do when they saw an enormous fire The ceiling was so low that they had to fly along just above the tree tops, and from that low height could see the men working around the fire. It also was apparent that the fire was confined to a bend in the river where the river turned almost back on itself. Thus by building a fire lane across the bend the fire would soon burn itself out. Bill at once saw the great value that an airplane reconnaissance would be to the man in charge of a fire crew there. In a rough section like that, a man would take hours to work his way through the timber and over the mountains to get that information. Kotok undoubtedly saw in a few minutes the proper place to place the fire break.