CAUSE OF THE FIRE— AND FUTURE PREVENTION 



525 



character of the timber is, to a considerable extent, dis- 

 appointing from a commercial point of view. Probably 

 60 to 70 per cent of the trees are black spruce, 10 to 15 

 per cent white spruce, 15 to 20 per cent aspen poplar 

 and balm of Gilead, and 5 per cent miscellaneous species, 

 mostly cedar, paper birch and jack pine. Hardly 10 to 



causing the loss of not less than 84 lives. Numerous 

 other fires had occurred, both before and since, so that 

 there were large areas of fire-killed timber, as well as of 

 clearing slash, ready to hand, constituting the worst kind 

 of a fire trap. To a certain extent, therefore, the recent 

 disaster is the result of secondary fires. Previous ex- 



Pkoiograpli by British and Colonial Press, Toronto^ 



THE TEMPORARY MORGUE AT MATHESON 



These two tents were erected at Matheson for the reception of bodies brought in from the surrounding district. The soldiers shown are members of the 228th 

 Northern Fusileers, who are searching for bodies and otherwise assisting with rehef work. A number of coffins are shown, some empty and some containing charred 

 remains. The work of rescue and rehef was quickly organized and admirably conducted. 



15 per cent of the forest contains material of saw-timber 

 size ; from 35 to 50 per cent contains material suitable 

 only for pulpwood or fuel ; from 35 to 45 per cent of 

 the area is either muskeg, near muskeg, or scrubwood 

 of a size hardly fit for fuel. The soil, when cleared, is 

 for tlie most part excellent for farming. Drainage is, of 

 course, necessary in the case of swampy areas. Consider- 

 able settlement has already taken place, and the region is 

 destined to become an excellent agricultural section. 



At the time of Dr. Fernow's visit, fires had been 

 pretty well kept out of the country along the Transcon- 

 tinental, but only the year previous (JQll), the terrible 

 Porcupine fire had swept over a large stretch of country 

 around Porcupine, and south and east from that place, 

 destroying the timber on hundreds of square miles and 



perience in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and many 

 other parts of the country, shows that such fires are 

 more serious than fires in green timber. This is due to 

 the fact that the first fire does not consume the green 

 timber entirely, but sweeps through the tops, perhaps 

 burning out the roots as well, killing all growth and 

 leaving it to become exceedingly inflammable and to con- 

 stitute food for a second or succeeding conflagration. It 

 usually requires not less than three or four successive 

 fires to completely clean up an area of standing timber. 

 While the recent fire has furnished the finishing touch 

 over considerable scattered areas, large amounts of 

 highly inflammable material still exist over the great 

 majority of the recent burn. There will still, therefore, 

 be great danger of serious fires in the region swept by the 



