From the text (p.1) ... 'The studies of rate of spread in the longleaf-slash pine type have provided a basis for estimating perimeters of fires burning under various conditions of weather and fuel and thus indirectly for determining the suppression action to be taken. For use on a specific fire, it is necessary to estimate either the time between origin and discovery (here called the discovery time) or the size of the fire when discovered. This estimate is a necessary link in the chain between the discovery of a fire and the departure of a crew to suppress it. Results of 142 observations made on fires that were set mainly on the Biloxi Ranger District to measure rate of spread, showed that the average discovery time was nearly 10 minutes. It is better to use this average than a pure guess or than to make no allowance for the time interval between origin and discovery, but since it is obvious that a fire will be discovered sooner under favorable than under poor discovery conditions, it was decided to make a special study so that discovery time could be estimated under all conditions. In this study, therefore, which was undertaken to provide a means of estimating, in the longleaf-slash pine type, the discovery time of fires and their size when discovered, fires were set intentionally in 43 different places on the De Soto National Forest in southern Mississippi.'