TWO MILLION DOLLARS WORTH 

 BURNED IN ONE DAY 



By GEN. C. C ANDREWS 

 State Forestry Commissioner of Minnesota 



(If yet another proof is needed to show the necessity of full patrol against forest tires, 

 here it is. September i, General Andrews tells us, the ranger service in Minnesota was discon- 

 tinued for lack of funds. On that very date a Minneapolis newspaper stated editorially thai 

 the fires in Minnesota forests had already destroyed property this year whose money value 

 would have sufficed to cover the cost of the proposed extension of the state ranger service for 

 50 years. And as early as July 22 press reports from Bemidji tell of the dangerously dry 

 condition of the forests in the region devastated on October 7. Ed.) 



AT THE request of American For- 

 estry, Gen. C. C. Andrews, state 

 forestry commissioner of Minne- 

 sota, made the following statement, 

 tinder date of October 13: 



The disastrous forest fire in Minne- 

 sota on the 7th instant in the vicinity 

 of the Lake of the Woods and Rainy 

 River was driven by a tornado, and 

 destroyed the villages of Baudette and 

 Spooner. The loss of life probably 

 will not exceed fifty ; the number now 

 known to have perished is twenty-nine. 

 I am unable now to estimate the loss of 

 property, but am convinced it will ex- 

 ceed $2,000,000. The area of the fire 

 probably did not exceed 300,000 acres. 



The country swept by the fire is 

 generally level, covered principally 

 with Norway and jack pine, spruce, 

 balsam, white birch, and tamarack. It 

 is traversed by the Canadian-Northern 

 railway and is mostly destitute of 

 wagon roads. While quite a number 

 of new settlers are scattered through 

 the country, there are as yet only about 

 six organized townships in what ap- 

 pears to have been in the track of the 

 fire. 



Considerable timber had been cut in 

 the region and much brush and refuse 

 left unburned. The whole season 

 from April 1st has been remarkably 

 dry. Numerous fires occurred which 

 were fought by the settlers ; some of 



the fires burned into bogs and proba- 

 bly all of them were not wholly exting- 

 uished. 



Just where and how this fire origi- 

 nated I am unable to say, but the latest 

 reliable information I now have is that 

 it came from south of the Canadian- 

 Northern railroad. 



In some cases the land of a new 

 settler in such a region may be partly 

 covered with refuse from logging or 

 windfalls, which he is strongly tempt- 

 ed to burn in dry weather. The 

 country is also more or less frequented 

 by other persons who are liable to 

 cause fire. 



How shall we prevent the negligent 

 use of fire in the forest ? By our pres- 

 ent system in organized townships the 

 three supervisors and clerk are fire 

 wardens; they are paid 25 cents an 

 hour for the time they are employed; 

 they are expressly required to take en- 

 ergetic precautions to prevent fires 

 and may call help to control them, 

 and every person called upon to help 

 must do so unless he has a justifiable 

 excuse. Wardens can be specially ap- 

 pointed for unorganized territory, but 

 it sometimes occurs that in such ter- 

 ritory there is not a suitable resident 

 for the position. Fire fighters are paid 

 20 cents an hour for their time. 



Wardens, in a dry season, may pa- 

 trol their districts or employ patrols. 

 The minimum penalty for setting fires 



65S 



