CAUSE OF THE FIRE AND FUTURE PREVENTION 



527 



furnished direct by the Government, where such pro- 

 tection is considered worth while. As a rule, of the 

 unlicensed and unreserved Crown lands, it has been con- 

 sidered practicable to provide fire protection on only those 

 portions which contain quantities of white and red pine. 

 Thus, there are large areas of land containing a poorer 

 quality or quantity of timber which are left practically 

 or altogether 

 without protec- 

 tion. The area 

 of such lands 

 is so great that 

 the Provincial 

 Government 

 has not felt 

 justified in 

 incurring the 

 large addi- 

 tional expendi- 

 ture that would 

 be involved by 

 the establish- 

 ment of a 

 patrol system. 



The report 

 of the Depart- 

 ment of Lands 

 and Forests of 

 Ontario for 

 1915 shows 

 that about 

 $300,000 was 

 spent on forest 

 protection in 

 the province 

 during that 

 year, of which 

 apparently about $230,000 was expended by the Provincial 

 Government. The cost of fire-ranging on licensed lands 

 was approximately $70,000, 286 men being provided for 

 this work by licensees. The total cost to the province for 

 patrol of forest reserves was $67,313, 166 men being as- 

 signed. On unlicensed Crown lands, 107 men were ap- 

 pointed, costing $54,925. For the patrol of the National 

 Transcontinental and Temiskaming and Northern Ontario 

 Railways (owned by the Dominion and Provincial Gov- 

 ernments respectively), 126 men were provided by the 

 province, costing $56,326. There were 18 chief rangers, 5 

 deputy chief rangers, and 8 supervisors on lands under 

 license. In addition, 12 railway inspectors were provided to 

 enforce the provisions of the Railway Act and the fire 

 regulations of the Railway Commission as to privately 

 owned railways. The cost of patrols in the parks is not 

 stated, nor are figures available showing the total amount 

 expended for extra labor in extinguishing fires. The pri- 

 vately owned railways are required by the Railway 

 Commission to take full precautions with regard to the 

 reporting and extinguishing of their own fires, and they 

 are, as a rule, performing this work in an admirable man- 

 ner, and help as well in controlling many fires from the 



ONE OF THE MANY SAD SCENES 



Unloading coffins of victims of the fire at Ramore. At each station along the fire-swept district, dead and injured 

 from the surrounding country were gathered as quickly as possible by volunteer relief parties. 



outside. The cost of this work does not appear in the 

 figures above quoted. 



It will thus be seen that a great deal of money is 

 being spent on fire protection in Ontario. Why, then, 

 is it possible for such a catastrophe to occur as has just 

 devastated so large a section of Northern Ontario? The 

 answer will be found in the discussion of the following 



points, which 

 have been em- 

 phasized time 

 and again in 

 representations 

 made to the 

 P r o v i ncial 

 Government by 

 the Commis- 

 sion of Con- 

 servation and 

 the Canadian 

 Forestry 

 Association. 



1. There is 

 no definite 

 policy for the 

 clearing of 

 land in the 

 north country, 

 preliminary to 

 sett lement. 

 Clearing is left 

 entirely to in- 

 dividual initia- 

 tive, supple- 

 mented by ac- 

 cidental fires. 

 There is no 

 regulation of 

 settlers' slash-burning operations, and it is usually the care- 

 less settler who naturally selects the driest time to burn. It 

 should be noted that reports indicate settlers' fires as the 

 agency responsible for the recent holocaust. It has been 

 suggested that the province should adopt some general 

 scheme of at least partial clearing, ahead of settlement. 

 The clearing, by the government, of a strip extending 

 back some distance from each road allowance, would 

 enable the settler to make an immediate start in raising 

 a crop, and would at the same time break the forest up 

 into blocks, thus greatly increasing the chance of con- 

 trolling fires. The difficulty of this will of course be the 

 cost which the prospective settler would be required to 

 repay in the course of time. It is believed, however, 

 that this need not be prohibitive. In any event, in trie 

 light of past and recent experience, it would appear that 

 the province should make a complete study of the whole 

 situation and determine definitely and finally what areas 

 are chiefly valuable for agriculture and which are chiefly 

 valuable for continued timber production. As to the 

 former, some definite policy should be adopted for the 

 removal of the timber that will have due regard to the 

 safety of life and property. As to the latter, adequate 



