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Show 76 that fires must be fought when they endanger property or l i v e s , and too many Californians build quarter-of-a-million-dollar houses out in the middle of dry brush. Vast numbers of people have to go there to fight fires every summer." When the Santa Ana winds turn California into a huge bonfire, the Boise Interagency Fire Center erupts with a c t i v i t y . Fresh fire crews, some from as far aviay as the East coast, arrive to be outfitted and sent to the f i r e s ; vieary and exhausted crevis return to r e s t , to be resupplied (sometimes the soles of their boots have burned through) and sent out again. Ordinance people contact restaurants and food dealers to look for fast additional sources of food, then lease trucks and airplanes vihich can transport personnel and equipment to a l l the burn areas in the Western s t a t e s . Most important, they must quickly assemble thousands of firefighters. Only in the past ten years have viomen been allowed to actually fight fires; they novi make up about 10 percent of the Forest Service crews. On temporary crevis recruited from Indian t r i b e s , the percentage of women is much higher. Firefighters can be quickly mustered on Indian reservations, perhaps because unemployment is high among Indians and the crew members are well paid. American Indians make excellent firefighters - they're used to outdoor work and are knowledgeable about f o r e s t s . Since they usually live in arid regions, Indians know how to handle f i r e s vihere the water supply is scarce. In dry areas, surface fires are fought on the forest floor with |