Arbor and Bird Day Bulletin 



when a brisk wind rapidly spread the fire over nearly their entire 

 works, and drove it into adjoining standing timber, imperiling lives 

 of workmen and destroying one entire camp, including buildings, stores 

 and equipment of all kinds, besides damaging or destroying bridges, 

 railway track, cars, logging donkeys, cables, tools, and many million 

 feet of sawlogs in the woods, also damaging or destroying hundreds 

 of acres of green timber. The fire burned over some 7,000 acres, 

 about 3,200 of which was green standing timber largely owned by the 

 company, but which is intermingled with some state and federal forest 

 lands. This was a ground fire, and the area of state timber burned is 

 about 400 acres, the loss and damage to which is now being carefully 

 estimated and determined. 



It became necessary to establish fire fighting camps west of Pied- 

 mont, on Boundary creek. Several miles of fire guard were con- 

 structed, thus finally heading off the fire and preventing its further 

 spread into valuable state and federal timber. The state and federal 

 forest service co-operated in this work. 



This fire, in particular, with all its attendant circumstances, em- 

 phasizes most forcibly the growing necessity for some well-formed 

 plan for the annual burning of forest waste, in seasonable time and 

 with well-planned protective preparations. Loggers and lumbermen 

 should learn to figure the cost of annual disposal of logging waste as 

 a fixed operating charge of primary importance. When this is done 

 by all forest operators such losses as described above will be reduced 

 to a minimum. Had this company made a few well-planned prepara- 

 tions, then fired their entire works in favorable weather, the loss 

 could be shown in four figures instead of six. 



Our attention was directed by the federal service to numerous 

 fires originating adjacent to and on the Northern Pacific railway's 

 mountain division. A letter was addressed to this company calling 

 attention to the law on locomotive screens and ash pans, and if their 

 locomotives caused fires to patrol that section of their road. 



This department has been active in the enforcement of law rel- 

 ative to clearing of rights of way and the disposal of fire risks. The 

 field forces have rendered assistance to public authorities as well as 

 private parties, and we have been ably assisted by both the Wash- 

 ington Forest Fire Association and the Federal Forest Service in 

 furtherance of this work. 



In accord with your resolution of August 7th, in relation to dis- 

 posal of inflammable debris adjacent to public highways, circular 

 letters were sent to the wardens, with form of notice to be served 

 on land owners. Reports from them indicate that such notice was 

 served wherever fire risks were discovered and owners could be found. 

 This activity resulted in the disposal of many hazardous accumula- 

 tions of forest waste. 



During the summer months, in company with other forest officers, 

 I made a tour of many highways, inspecting faulty clearing and. 

 effecting disposal of it. In a few cases arrangements were made to 



