1844 



Canadian Forrstry Journal, August, 1918 



Heavy Losses in B. C. Forest Fires 



{From "Pacific Coast Lumberman ' Vancouver.) 



For over a decade British Colum- 

 bia has not experienced such a dry 

 season as that of the spring and the 

 early part of the summer of 1918. 

 The last period of Sahra-like weather 

 that touched this province was in 

 1907, when considerable damage was 

 caused by forest fires, but that season 

 pales into insignificance in compari- 

 son with that of the present year of 

 grace. It was the banner year for 

 drought, and, has left beh'nd a trail 

 of destruction that has spelt ruin in 

 many instances and that has, for the 

 time being at least, thrown hundreds 

 of men out of employment. With 

 very few exceptions, there has not 

 been a district in the entire province 

 that escaped the flames caused, in 

 some cases, through carelessness, and 

 in others, if the statement of the 

 District Forester is to be accepted — 

 through sheer wantonness. 



For weeks and months the woods 

 and undergrowth were as dry as 

 tinder. Only a spark was needed 

 to set the country ablaze and unfor- 

 tunately this spark was suppbed too 

 frequently. The big series of fires 

 which followed has led to a condition 

 of affairs that must be taken serious 

 cognizance of by those who have the 

 power of dealing with such matters 

 with a \i^w to oreventinL their 

 repetition. Had it not been for th; 

 heavy rainfall that started on the 

 evening of July 9, there is not the 

 slightest doubt iDut that condition.^ 

 would have been infinitely more seri- 

 ous. As it is, they are sufficient so 

 to warrant the taking of measures 

 that should, with strict enforcement, 

 put a period to this indiscriminate 

 destruction of the province's most 

 valuable asset. 



Much Damage Done. 

 It is impossible to give even a 

 rough estimate of the amount of 

 damage done by this series of fires. 

 But it is safe in saying that the total 

 will aggregate anything up to a 

 million dollars. With a few excep- 



tions every forest apd bush district 

 in B. C. has been partially or wholly 

 devastated by the flames. This applies 

 both to the mainland and the Island. 

 Principal among the losses was that 

 sustained by Bloedel, Welch, and 

 Stewart, whose logging camp was 

 almost completely destroyed, and the 

 Eburne mills, which were entirely 

 gutted. 



Since the commencement of the 

 spring and summer season, the series 

 of outbreaks has continued to in- 

 crease day after day until at the 

 beginning of Ji ly the situation was 

 such that the fire warden were un- 

 able to cope with it. In other words, 

 there were insufficient and inadequate 

 measures to handle the big task, 

 with the result that an enormous 

 stretch of timber and bush land 

 has been laid waste. To some extent 

 this could have been prevented if old 

 style methods had been abandoned 

 and more up-to-date plans followed 

 that would have enabled the alto- 

 gether too small band of fire-fighters 

 to have dealt with the work in a more 

 efficient manner. 



The statement by District Forester 

 A. C. Van Dusen, whose headquarters 

 are at Vancouver, that there probab- 

 ly was malice in the start of some of 

 these fires is one of which the most 

 serious cognizance should be taken. 

 Mr. Van Dusen stated that, "there 

 are some fires at any rate in which 

 the causes are unknown, and it is 

 possible they are being deliberately 

 set." If this is so, then the most 

 drastic measures are not too severe 

 to handle a situation of this charac- 

 ter. In support of his contention 

 that incendiarism has played a prom- 

 inent part in these fires, the fact that 

 there are so many outbreaks simul- 

 taneously is significant, and it is a 

 matter for the government to deal 

 with promptly. 



Attack Big Camp. 

 On the morning of July 1 three 

 fires broke out simultaneously at 



