1444 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



is high, but the most serious consequence of these fires 

 will be the damage which will result from the rapid run- 

 off during the coming rainy season. 



At the same time that southern California was experi- 

 encing the worst fires in its history, terrific fires were 

 raging in the northern part of the state. On September 

 19, the most destructive fire that was ever experienced in 

 Marin County, swept the slopes of Mount Tamalpais to 

 the edge of Muir Woods before it was checked. In a 

 few hours, more than twen- ^_^^__ 

 ty residences and summer 

 cottages near Mill Valley 

 were destroyed. A thou- 

 sand fire-fighters which in- 

 cluded detachments of sol- 

 diers from Fort McDowell 

 and Fort Baker were need- 

 ed to bring this fire under 

 control. 



While the Mill Valley 

 fire was at its height, the 

 fire in Hurricane Gulch 

 that had previously threat- 

 ened Sausalito, broke out 

 again and swept down upon 

 the water-front with irre- 

 sistible force. The resi- 

 dents, exhausted from their 

 long fight with the fire the 

 night before, appealed to 

 Mayor Rolph, of San Fran- 

 cisco, for aid. He dis- 

 patched a fire boat with 

 thirty firemen at once, but 

 by the time the boat had 

 reached Sausalito the fire 

 had burned a hall, five 

 stores and a dozen resi- 

 dences. Five hundred sol- 

 diers and sailors were 

 brought in from nearby 

 posts and the fire was 

 finally controlled. It is es- 

 timated that the property 

 loss in the two Marin 

 County towns from these 

 fires exceeds $200,000. 



On September 20, a fire 

 which was the result of 

 slash burning on a lumber 

 company's holdings in San 

 Mateo County, swept into 

 Santa Cruz County and entered the California Redwood 

 Park. It was fought for a week by several hundred men, 

 at one time coming within half a mile of Governor's 

 Camp in the Big Basin, having claimed one hundred of 

 the world's greatest trees. The big redwoods do 

 not burn readily, but become weakened by brush 

 fires about their bases and finally topple over with 

 a great crash, carrying smaller trees with them. 



A WELL-KNOWN OLD BEAUTY— "JUMBO" 



The great base of Jumbo — knotted and gnarled, the pride of the grove. 

 These old trees made heroic resistance to the devastating fire which threat- 

 ened their destruction in the early fall. 



"Great trees were falling all night," said Park 

 Warden Dool. "When they fall they can be heard a 

 mile and a half." 



This is the first fire in Redwood Park in modern 

 history. Many of the redwoods had been hollowed by 

 previous fires — 400 or 500 years ago — and so fell more 

 readily before the flames. 



"The redwoods that have fallen run to six feet in 

 diameter and are from 250 to 275 feet high," said the 



Park Warden. "They were 

 from 1,500 to 2,000 years 

 old." An irreparable loss. 



Rain came to the relief 

 of the fire-fighters, but not 

 until about five thousand 

 acres had been burned over, 

 including 1,600 acres in the 

 proposed addition to the 

 park. In San Mateo Coun- 

 ty, one hundred soldiers 

 were brought from San 

 Francisco to protect valu- 

 able private redwood and 

 tan-bark oak holdings. The 

 damage to the mature red- 

 woods was not great be- 

 yond the falling of some 

 trees through the further 

 weakening of their fire- 

 scarred butts. The greatest 

 damage was through the 

 burning of the intermingled 

 Douglas fir and tan-bark 

 oak, the value of which is 

 estimated to be twenty-five 

 dollars per acre. 



The foothills of the Sier- 

 ras were aflame during the 

 latter part of September, a 

 dozen or more fires being 

 sighted in one day by the 

 aerial patrolman from 

 Mather Field on his daily 

 round trip to Oroville. 

 Placerville was surrounded 

 by fires which deluged the 

 town with falling ashes and 

 cinders. Yuba, Nevada, 

 and Placer County ranchers 

 lost thousands of acres of 

 dry feed and young timber, 

 besides many buildings and 

 miles of fences. At this time, October 8, there is still a 

 possibility of large fires unless rain falls shortly, since 

 a heavy wind is rapidly drying out the moisture resulting 

 from the previous rain. Fire reports show that the acre- 

 age burned over and the resulting damage has been 

 greater than any year since 1910. 



The lesson taught by these fires surely must have been 

 learned by now. In commenting upon them an editorial 



