FOREST FIRES IN WASHINGTON 



By JOEL SHOMAKER 

 Chairman, Washington Conservation Commission 



The State of Washington has passed 

 through another ordeal of forest fires. 

 Thousands of acres of standing timber 

 have been burned over and the country 

 left in ashy desolation. Large areas of 

 young forest growth have been wasted, 

 and soil fertility consumed, by the un- 

 natural burning process. The loss to 

 life and personal property has not been 

 so great as in adjacent States, but the 

 total waste resulting from fires will 

 reach almost the highest point in the 

 records of State history. 



My own experience will give an illus- 

 tration of what has taken place in other 

 sections. On July 3 a fire was noticed 

 in an isolated spot on my Nature Nur- 

 sery. It had been started in the debris 

 left from loggers, several hours before 

 I discovered the smoke, as I live on the 

 waterfront of Hood Canal and the fire 

 was set far back on the upland. It had 

 made such a start, when fighters ar- 

 rived, that nothing could be done but 

 watch the marching path of destruc- 

 tion. 



That fire continued its trail of annihi- 

 lation for about two months. I worked 

 day and night to save my own property, 

 and many others labored to prevent 

 conflagrations in both private and pub- 

 lic property. I place the loss to my 

 nursery, in timber, young forest growth, 

 plants and shrubs, waste in soil fertility 

 and destruction of scenery, at $10,000. 

 It burned over nearly 200 acres of my 

 land and extended far out into the 

 neighboring country. 



The season was favorable for fires, as 

 it is said to have been the driest sum- 

 mer in twenty years. I patrolled the 

 borders of the fire approaching my 

 dwelling, and, with shovel in hand, 

 checked the flames for a time. But 

 nothing but water did any good. When 

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the family had been aroused to take the 

 boat, and trees were falling all around 

 the house, we put a stop to the flames 

 by using water, carried by hand from 

 the bay, and cutting trenches to prevent 

 burning leaves from crossing. 



Other fires in my vicinity did much 

 damage to the forest and soil and 

 threatened homes and settled communi- 

 ties. In some districts the fires extended 

 into towns and the danger became so 

 great that Governor M. E. Hay issued 

 a proclamation calling on all loggers to 

 cease operations for twenty days and 

 set their employes to work in trying to 

 put out the flames. Appeals were made 

 to the War Department for assistance 

 in bringing rain, by firing guns, at dif- 

 ferent ports on the shores of Puget 

 Sound. 



It was feared that a repetition of the 

 "Black Friday" of 1902 would be wit- 

 nessed, and the President of the United 

 States was asked to help in bringing 

 rain. Troops were called out from the 

 annual encampment and sent to differ- 

 ent sections of the Northwest to aid the 

 forest rangers in saving timber and 

 valuable properties. Smoke covered the 

 land and waters, and navigation \yas 

 impeded in the same manner as during 

 the raging fires of 1902. August was a 

 critical month, and but for showers at 

 the close of the month would have been 

 a time of wonderful waste and destruc- 

 tion of timber, watersheds, and native 

 resources. 



What caused the forest fires? That 

 question is always uppermost after the 

 country has been laid waste. As I see 

 it, forest fires are synonymous with ig- 

 norant and malicious mischief. It was 

 the custom of Indians and some pio- 

 neers of Puget Sound to set fire to dead 

 brush in order to clear deer trails, burn 



