82 Canadian Forestry Journal. 



setting out fires." The agent for Nanaimo District gives the 

 same reason for there being no fires there. In the Newcastle 

 District there was but one fire which v/as about 12 miles hack 

 of La(l}'smith. It burned over a part of the ground that had 

 been logged by the Victoria Lumljer Co. in 1904, but it did little 

 or no damage to standing timber. 



On the mainland there were many fires in some districts, 

 but none that destroyed a very wide extent of forest. For the 

 Grand Forks District the agent reports: " Forest fires prevailed 

 mostly in the latter part of July and up to the rainy weather in the 

 beginning of September; they were not so destructive as those of 

 the previous year on account of the breaks formed by the fires of 

 the year before. The timber destroyed was mostly young, and 

 consequently of small size. The most frequent origin of fires in 

 this locality was the engines of the various railway lines, and as 

 under the Act of last year there seems to be a difficulty in bringing 

 a railway company to book they go merrily on with their destruc- 

 tion. Some of the fires were started bv the Kootenay Power line- 

 men, but after they had been given to understand that they \vould 

 get into trouble, that source ceased. The estimate of loss Vjy fires 

 might be placed at about $5,000." 



In the Greenwood District, the first serious fire seemed to start 

 in the Boundary Creek Valley near Anaconda. A few men were 

 employed to prevent it from spreading, and at the same time 

 protect the wagon-road bridges and culverts. In this they were 

 to some extent successful, but soon a number of other fires were 

 noticed in the mountains which quickly spread over a large area — 

 about 10 square miles — which was particularly dry, owing to a 

 long, hot summer and lack of rain. The police endeavored to 

 trace the origin of the fires, but were unsuccessful. 



The exceptional heat and dryness of the summer w^as general- 

 ly thought to be the cause of the unusual number of forest fires in 

 the Kootenay District where they caused more damage than for 

 several years past. As the greater portion of the district is 

 unsettled, it is impossible to arrive at any accurate estimate of the 

 loss of timber, though it must have been considerable. Fires 

 caused the destruction of government roads and bridges in this 

 district to the extent of $3,000. The efforts of the fire warden 

 doubtless reduced the threatened fire losses. A system of super- 

 vision is recommended by the agent which will permit of officers 

 getting early to the fire, and it is suggested that provincial police 

 officers be authorized to make expenditures up to $25, without 

 waiting for special authority. 



There were a good many small fires in the Okanagan District, 

 but only one — near Peachland — that caused much destruction. 

 In most cases the causes of their origin were investigated by the 

 police, and there were several prosecutions. The agent there 



