472 



Canadian Forestry Journal, November, 1919 



THE TAP-ROOT OF FIRE TROUBLES 



Of the forest fires on the areas of the Laur- 

 entian Forest Protective Association (Quebec) 

 this year, 40 per cent of the area burned was 

 "slash land" and about 30 per cent of Hie fires 

 occurred in old or recent burns. 



Fires burning in these areas are invariably ex- 

 tremely fierce and in some cases they die out 

 very late in the night or early in the morning; 

 thus the time available to fight them is much 



shorter than in the case of fires which occur 

 on timbered areas. 



To the end of September, the "Laurentian" 

 territory recorded 24 fires in May, 25 in June, 

 13 in July, 2 in August, and 2 in September. 

 As to causes, 35 were scored against "un- 

 known," 16 to settlers, 6 railway, 3 lightning, 

 5 lumbering, I "other causes." 



FIRES SOUTH OF THE ST, LA WRENCE 



Good work again is recorded by the Southern 

 St. Lawrence Forest Protective Association. 

 Particulars sent in by Mr. Brule, eastern man- 

 ager, state that a total of 732 fires were ex- 

 tinguished by the 15th of September. Ninety 

 per cent of the fires were caused by settlers' 

 slashings. Twenty-two prosecutions resulted, 

 a^id twenty convictions secured. In most cases, 

 however, the culprit was let go with minimum 

 fine and costs. 



Most of the fires which got out of control and 

 necessitated extra help were fires which spread 

 into logging slash of one, two, or three years' 

 old. Logging made before that period seems 

 not to offer any danger for forest fire. It would 

 certainly be desirable that some experiments be 

 carried on in the burning of the logging debris 

 in actual cuttings. Although the cost of such 

 operation may be quoted high, I am inclined 

 to thmk that the abatement of danger and dam- 



ages made from that source would sufficiently 

 compensate. It is expected that experiments 

 along this line will be made in some sections of 

 Quebec forests in the course of the present lum- 

 bering operations. 



"I may add in conclusion, that we had also 

 trouble in procuring assistance for fighting for- 

 est fires in different instances, and that, for pre- 

 texts of small importance. Farmers and settlers 

 during fire season are always more or less busy 

 workmg on their farms or lots, and it is always 

 a problem to have them fighting fires, a kind of 

 work they dislike very much. For some of them 

 the salary we pay ($2 per day) is not sufficient; 

 others always find some excuse. Lack of edu- 

 cation seems to be the whole cause of such 

 trouble. A good educational campaign in that 

 sense is felt and that only will solve the diffi- 

 culty, and the result would certainly be of 

 some benefit to all." 



SETTLERS MUST BE WON OVER 



Mr. C. B. Guerin, manager of the Western 

 Division of the Southern St. Lawrence Forest 

 Protective Association, writes: 



Our present object is to educate the public 

 concerning the protection of forests from fires, 

 and to attain this end, it is essential that the 

 settlers comply with the law, for we know by 

 experience that settlers who burn their slash 

 with permits take greater precautions than those 

 who have no permits. 



According to the information furnished by 

 our fire wardens, it may be asserted that 33 per 

 cent of the settlers who burned their slashes 

 without permits caused damages to the forest, 

 while only 6 per cent of those who burned under 

 permits caused damage to the neighboring pro- 

 perties. 



It is, therefore, important to continue our 

 campaign m favor of permits, if we wish to 

 control all fires started in our territory, for all 

 the forests belonging to our members are ad- 

 joining farmers' lands. 



In Mr. Guerin's division, south of the St. 

 Lawrence, in Quebec, there were 15 fires in 

 May, 40 in June, 8 in July, 7 in August, and 1 

 in September, a total of 71. As to causes, 10 

 were "unknown," 3 due to campers, 23 to set- 

 tlers, 34 to railways, and I incendiary. Mr. 

 Guerin estimates the area of association lands 

 burned over at 144 acres, and 1,555 acres of 

 non-association lands. Of the 144 acres of 

 association lands, I 34 acres were slash covered. 



