fires of October 17 to sweep practically un- 

 hindered across the timberlands of the David 

 Ward Estate. The causes which made all the 

 separate surface and crown fires converge in 

 crossing the estate into one large fire are not 

 definitely known. It seems clear, however, 

 that some of the fires were started by the 

 engines of the D. & C. railroad, others by 

 farmers attempting to clear the land, one 

 from an old hemlock stump which was set 

 on fire by a party of fern pickers, while other 

 fires came from the adjoining lands and were 

 a part of the general forest fires which ran 

 unchecked throughout the various counties in 

 the region. 



The fires which did the greatest damage 

 entered the tract from the southwest and 

 swept forward in a general northeasterly 

 direction. These were known as the Deward, 

 Blue Lake, Sand Lake and Starvation Lake 

 fires. Their general directions are indicated 

 on the map by arrows. The Mancelona fires 

 entered Township 29 N., R. 5 W., from the 

 west, followed the Mancelona road, one on 

 each side, for two or three miles, until they 

 came together on the eastern side of the 

 township and joined with the fires which 

 came from the southwest. The Alba fire, 

 which entered the same township from the 

 northwest, was only a light surface fire until 

 it entered the slashing on Section 4 and then 

 turned in a northeasterly direction. Several 

 small fires entered T. 30 N., R. 6 W. from 



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