JUNE FOREST FIRES. 



DAMAGES WROUGHT BY THE FLAMES WHICH 

 WERE MAINLY CONTINUATIONS OF THE DESTRUC- 

 TION WROUGHT IN THE PRECEDING MONTHS. 



AN account of forest fires is necessa- 

 rily an iteration and reiteration of 

 old and well-known causes and effects. 

 Year after year the annually recurring 

 dry seasons bring their records of de- 

 struction in the fires which devastate 

 the woods of North America, and in 

 most cases the damage is the result of 

 a moment's carelessness or neglect. It 

 is quite discouraging to note the long 

 time required to bring the general public 

 to a proper realization of the fact, to 

 quote Gifford Pinchot, Forester of the 

 United States Department of Agricult- 

 ure, that ' ' of all foes which attack the 

 woodlands of North America no other 

 is so terrible as fire. ' ' A contemplation 

 of the great fires of the past is an object 

 lesson for the present, yet every decade 

 is marked by a forest fire disaster en- 

 tailing incalculable loss to this country. 

 The Mirarnichi fire of 1825 destroyed 

 in nine hours a belt of forest 80 miles 

 long and 25 miles wide along the Mira- 

 michi River, in New Brunswick, killing 

 every living thing in its path, including 

 fish, which were found dead in heaps 

 on the river banks. Several towns were 

 destroyed and at least 160 persons per- 

 ished. Even more terrible than this 

 was the Peshtigo fire of 1871, which 

 covered over 2,000 square miles in Wis- 

 consin and killed i , 500 persons. At the 

 same time a fire in Michigan burned a 

 strip 1 80 miles long and 40 miles wide, 

 clear across the state, and brought death 

 to several hundred people. In 1881 

 Michigan was again visited by a severe 

 fire, covering nearly 2,000 square miles 

 and killing nearly 500 persons. The 

 fire near Hinckley, Minnesota, in 1894, 

 destroyed $25,000,000 worth of prop- 

 erty ; 2,000 persons were left destitute, 

 and 500 lives were lost. Had it not 

 been for the heroic conduct of locomo- 

 tive engineers and other railroad men 

 the loss of life would have been trebled. 

 In the case of the Hinckley fire, a little 

 forethought would have obviated the dis- 



aster, as the fire was smoldering for days 

 near the town and could have been easily 

 put out before the high winds came and 

 drove the flames with uncontrollable 

 fury. I,ast year great fires in Oregon 

 and Washington involved losses amount- 

 ing to almost $13,000,000, and thou- 

 sands of forest animals were destroyed. 

 In this case the loss of life was not so 

 great as in the eastern fires, owing to the 

 fact that the areas were not thickly set- 

 tled, but at least 20 persons met death. 

 In all these cases the fires were in Sep- 

 tember or October, the worst months, 

 the fall in general being the time of 

 geatest danger. In the case of a dry 

 spring, such as has prevailed in many 

 parts of the country this year, the losses 

 in the spring months and early summer 

 are apt to be severe. 



It can be stated, however, that many 

 of the states are becoming alive to the 

 danger from forest fires, and some have 

 careful laws drawn to prevent this dan- 

 ger. Minnesota, for example, has a 

 good system of fire patrols and wardens, 

 and the laws for the prevention and 

 control of forest fires have been care- 

 fully framed and have proved efficacious 

 in practice. The Forest Commissioner 

 of Maine has just sent notices all over 

 his state calling the attention of the 

 public to the grave danger from fires in 

 the woods, and giving precautions, pen- 

 alties, and warnings to all who set fires 

 in timbered areas. The state foresters 

 of Washington are now preparing them- 

 selves to forestall during the coming 

 dry season any repetition of last year's 

 catastrophes, and the state commis- 

 sioner of public lands is appointing 

 many men whose business takes them 

 into the timbered country as fire war- 

 dens and patrolmen, and under the forest 

 laws of the state all state land cruisers 

 are ex ojficio fire wardens. The National 

 Bureau of Forestry has undertaken dur- 

 ing the present year an exhaustive study 

 of the fire problem, and the operations 



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