RAILWAY FOREST FIRES 



to Alberta and Saskatchewan, and conditions were such that extension 

 to British Columbia was impracticable. 



The appUcation of the British Columbia Government was based upon 

 the preliminary report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Timber 

 and Forestry, which conducted investigations duiing 1909 and 1910. 

 The chief result of the work of this Commission was the enactment of 

 the present Forest Law of British Coliombia, which places that Pro- 

 vince in the lead as to forestry administration in Canada. Much 

 credit is also due this Commission for initiating the action which led to 

 the requirement that railways should estabUsh patrols wherever neces- 

 sary, at their own expense. The following extract from the report of 

 the Commission* indicates clearly the urgent need for action: — 



Th r ni 1 T"^ ^^ ^ truism that railways are the most frequent 



, 1 .," ™ I cause of fire in any timber areas through which 



of always ^^^^ ^^^^ rj,^^ great majority of witnesses 



examined by us were somewhat emphatic upon this point. 



"Though there seems to be considerable doubt as to the power 

 of the Provincial Government to enforce regulations against any 

 railway company that is under Dominion jurisdiction, your Com- 

 missioners tirge, nevertheless, that every effort should be made 

 to minimise the dangerous conditions that exist at present. String- 

 ent regulations should provide dtiring the dry months for a thorough 

 patrolling of the railway track after the passing of every train 

 through a timbered district ; the provisions of the railway Act, 

 concerning the clearing of the right of way, should be embodied 

 in regulations that shotild be enforced ; wherever practicable 

 oil should be substituted for other locomotive fuel in timber sec- 

 tions dtuing each summer, while elsewhere the use of the most 

 modem and efficient spark arresters, and their frequent renewal, 

 should be insisted on. Fire wardens should be empowered to 

 inspect any locomotive at any stopping place should they have 

 reason to suspect any failure to comply with this last regulation. 

 The aid of the Railway Commission should be invoked should the 

 enforcement of these essential provisions for the safety of forests 

 prove, in the case of any company, to be beyond the jurisdiction 

 of the Provincial Government. 



"Your Commissioners are pleased to report, that, in an 

 interview with the Railway Commission, they obtained an un- 

 qualified promise that provincial fire wardens, whose duties should 

 include the examination of locomotives, the patrolling of the right- 

 of-way of any railway, or the supervision of new construction in 

 timbered districts, and whose names shotdd be submitted to the 

 Railway Commission, would immediately be given power to act as 

 officials of this Commission in all matters concerning the prevention 

 and the control of fires. 



* Pages 61, 62. 



