Monday, Jun. 21, 1948

Fire Icing

There had been no rain for a month and the woods were tinder-dry. But promising-looking clouds were drifting over the great forest fire north of Sudbury, Ont. Kenneth G. Pettit, Canadian government meteorologist, hoped they were "supercooled" (well below freezing temperature). If so, he might precipitate them artificially.

Last week he loaded crushed Dry Ice into an airplane and sowed 75 pounds of it from 12,000 ft. on a cloud near the fire. A few minutes later he saw rain falling from the cloud's base. A fairly heavy fall over the fire area lasted for 25 minutes, was followed by a two-hour drizzle. The Dry Ice shower, the Ontario Forest Protection Division reported, "had a dampening effect, but not an extinguishing effect upon the fire."

Pettit plans to tickle more clouds with Dry Ice.

He hopes to knock holes in the great-grandfather fires near Chapleau, which are sweeping the woods on an 80-mile front.

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