The Porcupine and Cochrane Fires 



9? 



town of South Porcui>iin' ami aroiiii<l l)i)th 

 BidcH of Pon-upiiH' Lakf. 'I'lif Wtv ri'iM-h- 

 «(l th<' frumo buildinKH of tlu' town with ft 

 roiir ht'iird for iiiil«>H. 



'In twonty minutoH Houth I'oroupine was 

 coniplt'toly in Jinnies and in throe houm 

 there were hut (.'orimefi and NniouMerinK 

 omhers, where the niont flouriHliin}; town of 

 the ranip had Htood. Men, women and 

 I'iiildron crowded to the water front. 

 Launches and canoes, hcowh and hoats 

 were pressed into conimiHMion, and the 

 women and cliildren were firHt pa«'ked in- 

 to the boats and sent to I'ottsville and 

 (lolden ('ity, botii safe at that time. I'anic 

 and chnoH prevailed. Men fought with 

 eat'li otiier for tiieir families, and I'oliee 

 OtticiT Murray with .lack (Sardner had to 

 stMiid (itV the paiiif-strickiMi fureij;ner» 



lake very roujjh and a }("oJ ">awy "' those 

 wild Nout^ht refuge in canoes and hoiti 

 lost their lives through the overturning 

 of these craft. At flmt it was re|»orted 

 that two hundred had met death in this 

 way hut later reports showed that thia 

 was much exag};erate<l. 



(iolden City, which from its position 

 around another angle of the lake was HUp- 

 posed to be safe, did not altogether et> 

 cape. Fire entered from the north and 

 burned about one third of the town, in- 

 cluding several churches and the best resi- 

 dences. 



The fires, after the terrible destruetion 

 of this day, subsided, largely from lack 

 of material and a heavy rain on .Fuly 19 

 and 20 extinguisherl the smouldering re- 

 mains. 



Inhabitants of South Porcupine driven to the Lake. 



who rushed for each boat as it came in. 

 Men were hurled into the water and many 

 rushed in as the only place of safety. 

 Thirty launches and as many canoes soon 

 had the women landed in safety on the 

 other side of the lake.' 



Those who couhl not escape from the 

 burning town in the launches sought re- 

 fuge in the lake, some six hundred men, 

 women and children standing for several 

 hours in the cold water. These were con- 

 fronted with another danger, for horses 

 and cattle, maddened by the flames, rush- 

 ed into the lake, trampling some and 

 forcing others out beyond their depth. 

 The high wind which always accompanies 

 forest fires of this magnitude made the 



Causes and Consequences. 



Various causes have been assigned for 

 the fires, but it is generally believed to 

 be due to prospectors' camp fires. It is 

 known that prospectors are not averse to 

 having the ground cleared and it is be- 

 lieved that when the fires became general 

 many prospwtors lighted 'back fires' to 

 secure their own safety and thus aided in 

 bringing on the general conflagration. 

 That the miners did not look upon the 

 (ire as an unmixed evil (in spite of its 

 terrible toll of human life and the prop- 

 erty loss) is shown in the following ex- 

 tract from a mining circular which was 

 headed 'Disaster a Benefit': — 



