EEPORT OF THE No. 3 



fire-ranging on ' licensed territory. There has, however, been no change in the 

 supervision of the fire-ranging on licensed lands. The licensees have still to submit 

 the number of men and the names of the fire-rangers they propose to employ, and the 

 limits on which they are to be placed. The Department instructs the rangers as to the 

 performance of their duties. It supplies them with literature and copies of the 

 Fire Act, — ^pamphlet and poster. It clothes them with authority as Government 

 oflficers; appoints them fish and game wardens, and furnishes them with diaries 

 in which they have to enter their movements from day to day, — which diaries have 

 to be sent in to the Depa;rtment at the end of the season, verified by the affidavit 

 of the rangers. Eangers are required to report all serious fires to the Department, 

 as 'well as to the licensee. The Department requires that fire rangers shall be 

 placed on all limits, and if the licensees fail to put them on, the Department 

 undertakes that duty and charges the expense against the berths for which it 

 appoints the rangers, and makes the charge a lien on the berth, which must be 

 removed before a license will be renewed. The licensed territory is divided into 

 districts of convenient size, for purposes of supervision, and experienced bush 

 rangers are placed in charge of the fire rangers in each district. This superinten- 

 dent has the direction and supervision of all fire rangers under his care; sees that 

 they are placed on all limits; that they are discharging their duties properly, and 

 generally represents the Department and the licensee. In the event of a serious 

 fire taking place, the district ranger takes charge and directs the work of suppres- 

 sion, and . on the fire being extinguished reports fully to the Department where the 

 fire occurred, its cause (if it is possible to ascertain this), the quantity of timber 

 damaged, and all other particulars. Thus it will be seen that the Department has 

 not parted in the slightest degree with its supervision and control of the service, — • 

 the sole change ; being that the licensees pay the expense of fire-ranging on their 

 licensed territory. 



It may here be stated that there were no forest fires of any consequence on 

 licensed territory east of Port Arthur during the past year. The supervision wa^ 

 evidently close, and the result satisfactory. There is no doubt that the constant 

 presence of fire rangers, year after year, calling attention to the danger of 

 Betting out fire, inculcating a spirit of carefulness and responsibility, and the dis- 

 tribution of the Fire Act and other literature, has had an educative effect, and we 

 are now reaping the benefit of this service by immunity from serious fires during 

 ;the past year. 



In the region west of Port Arthur, especially in the Fort Frances district, 

 the summer was very dry and warm. Indeed it was said to be the driest summer 

 for a period of thirty years. No rain fell and in consequence the forest was in a 

 highly inflammable state. Serious forest fires took place on licensed territory 

 there and on lands of the Crown, away from settlement or railways, and large 

 quantities of Pine timber were seriously damaged. This timber is being taken out 

 during the present winter, as the Department notified the licensees where the 

 damaged timber was, and directed them to cut it, intimating that in the event of 

 their failing to do so, they would be held accountable for the loss. Every effort 

 was made to discover the cause of these fires, but in that immense region it is 

 most difficult to ascertain who started it, or how any particular fire was set out. 

 During such a dry summer as the past, fires may be expected to run with great 

 rapidily, and the throwing down of a lighted match or cigarette would be sufficient 

 to cause a conflagration of a serious character. 



The railways have been blamed for carelessness, but, though careful enquiries 

 were made, the Department was unable to bring home to any of them any careless- 



