FOREST FIRE RISK IN MASSACHUSETTS 



By H. O. Cook 



Chief Forester, Massachusetts Department of Conservation 



Some time ago the writer contributed to Forestry Quarterly, Vol. 

 XIV, No. 2, an article on forest fire risk, in which he attempted to show 

 that the number of fires in the towns o'f the Commonwealth which 

 might be called manufacturing communities was greater in proportion 

 than in the remaining towns which might be designated as rural. Only 

 the fire data of one year (1914) were used as a basis for this article 

 and its conclusions. 



There is a chance for much interesting and valuable research in 

 this subject, namely, the relative risk, as the insurance people call it, 

 in different types of land, said types to be based on forest conditions, 

 soil conditions, and population conditions, either considered separately 

 or together. The writer has attempted to make for Massachusetts a 

 preliminary study along these lines. He has divided the State into five 

 districts, each of which has rather distinct topographcial, soil, forest, 

 and even economic features. In these five districts he has listed the 

 fires of four separate years, 1918-1921, by districts, as shown in the 

 tables, with an additional table giving the average of the four years' 

 record. The fifth column of the table is the fire rate or hazard, and 

 means the number of fires per one hundred thousand acres of area. 

 The last column gives the population per square mile. 



In order that persons not familiar with Massachusetts may properly 

 analyze the tables it is necessary to give some information concerning 

 the five districts. 



BerksJiire Hills. — This district includes that part of the State west 

 of the Connecticut Valley, and is a region of hills and mountains rang- 

 ing in elevation from 1,500 to 3,000 feet, arranged in parallel ranges 

 north and south, with rather narrow valleys between. The underlying 

 rock is largely limestone, which is overlaid with a fairly deep clay loam. 

 The forest is largely of the northern hardwood type, and covers 75 

 per cent of the land area. Most of the population is confined to three 

 river valleys, and over the rest of the area it is very sparse. Rainfall 

 is generally plentiful, and streams abound. 

 762 



