Forest Fire

The diorama shows a typical fire-fighting scene from the 1930s, in the era of active suppression of all fires.

The fire tower is typical of those built by state and federal agencies throughout the northeastern Untied states in the early 1900s, motivated by a widespread concern over the detection and control of fire. Most fires in New England result from human ignition, and understanding the historical and modern role of fire is a subject of great interest to ecologists, conservationists, and foresters.