Following is a table showing the causes of fires reported to 



the forest service: 



Railroad 148 



Burning brush 67 



Hunters and campers 27 



River drivers 2 



Unknown 69 



Smokers 6 



Indians 2 



Tramps 1 



Lightning 1 



Miscellaneous (such as dynamite, traction 



engine, etc.) 11 



Total 334 



Curiously, it may be deduced from this table, that the tramp 

 is as dangerous to the woods as lightning and that Indians 

 are worse than either. 



Three Big Fires During the Dry Season of May and June. 



Only three fires or series of fires of any consequence, oc- 

 curred during 1912. The worst of these was in Koochiching 

 county where timber, cedar posts and poles on 100 acres were 

 burned, entailing a loss estimated at $2,500. This was in 

 May, and the cause of the fire is unknown. The second big 

 fire also was in Koochiching county, on June 23. This fire, 

 or series of fires was in the vicinity of Margie, where 290 

 acres were burned over, and one week of hard fighting was 

 necessary to extinguish the conflagration. The loss was esti- 

 mated at $2,301. The third fire occurred in the same section 

 of the state, June 27, burning over 80 acres of cut-over land 

 and into private timbered land. The cause of none of these 

 three fires was ever learned. 



The latter part of June and first of July, 1912, found the 

 forests in grave danger because of an extended dry season 

 which left inflammable material in abundance. That there 

 were not great losses is due to an unusually close guard kept 

 by the rangers and their crews. Some were practically at 



