Forest Ranger R. M, Debitt and Crew, near Avery, Idaho 



companies of troops left American 

 Lake, August 13, for the Colville. Be- 

 fore their arrival, however, the rains 

 set in and they were only required to 

 assist in patrolling' the fire lines to be 

 absolutely sure that no fires started up 

 again. In all, twenty-nine fires started 

 on the Colville Forest this summer, 

 burning over an area of approximately 

 100,000 acres of merchantile timber 

 and causing a loss of 50,000,000 feet 

 of timber valued at not less than 

 $150,000. 



Before the fires on the Colville For- 

 est were fairly under control, the situa- 

 tion on the Crater in southern Oregon 

 became serious and those on the Wall- 

 owa and Whitman forests assumed 

 serious proportions. But the condition 

 on the Crater was by far the most 

 serious in the two States, for not only 

 did the fires burn in heavy stands of 

 valuable timber, but the lives and 

 property of settlers were seriously 

 threatened, and even a city was men- 

 aced. As on the Colville, fires on the 

 Crater were scattered over the entire 

 area and National Forest timber was 



threatened by fires burning on private 

 lands outside the boundaries of the 

 Forest. The surrounding country was 

 drawn on to the fullest extent for help, 

 but enough could not be secured. On 

 August 19, no soldiers arrived at Med- 

 ford, and on August 21, 250 more. 

 These men greatly strengthened the 

 force. Through the willingness of the 

 men and the hearty cooperation of their 

 officers they became at once an effi- 

 cient fire fighting crew, which stayed 

 with the situation until the fires were 

 under control, September 9. 



It was estimated roughly, for the 

 timber has not yet been carefully 

 cruised, that on the Crater alone tim- 

 ber to the amount of 140,000,000 feet, 

 valued at $150,000 was burned, while, 

 if the value of young growth killed is 

 counted, the loss aggregated not less 

 that $450,000. In all, over 110,000 

 acres were burned over. The loss on 

 private lands adjoining the Forest was 

 also great. It is not possible to say 

 what this was, but it is certain that it 

 also can be counted in hundreds of 

 thousands. On the Crater alone over 



645 



