122 FOURTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



burning in three different towns. It is supposed to have been caused by a 

 party who left their "coffee fires" burning after eating lunch. About 

 the 1 6th the weather became cool and was followed by a slow steady rain 

 the i yth and 1 8th which held the fires for a few days ; this was followed by 

 a good rain on the 25th at Saranac Lake, but it seems to have been local. 

 After this rain it became dry and hot again, so that by August forest fires 

 were starting up along the railroad again. The month of August was rather 

 dry, but enough rain fell to prevent severe fires. By September 1st the 

 situation became serious again. After the scanty rainfall of the preceding 

 three months the brooks were nearly dry, the lakes and ponds were at very 

 low-water marks, and swamps were entirely dry in many places; vegetation 

 had become dead and withered, the leaves of the trees began to dry up, and 

 the woods lacked their usual autumn coloring. The conditions were now 

 ripe for fires. Every precaution was taken by this Department to cope with 

 the situation which was fast becoming serious. Patrols were increased as 

 far as the funds of the Commission w T ould permit. The Superintendent of 

 Forests and Chief Firewarden were in the center of the forest section and 

 took every means to prevent fires and to handle those that did start. Fire- 

 wardens were warned and the situation was held well in hand for nearly 

 three weeks, or until September 20th. The hunting season opened Septem- 

 ber 1 6th, and resulted in bringing hundreds of people into the woods. At 

 this time fires seemed to start in innumerable places as if by magic. For 

 days the smoke was so dense that one could not distinguish objects dis- 

 tinctly one-eighth of a mile distant. Fires started in remote places and they 

 could not be seen on account of the dense smoke. Parties went into the 

 woods to fight the fires but could not locate them readily on account of the 

 dense haze which hid the location of the fires. Most of the fires up to this 

 time had been in the open, in old fire or lumber slashes; but now the hard- 

 wood leaves were falling and even the forest floor of the dense woods was 

 dry. A fire was set by a locomotive of the New York Central Railroad 

 about one-half mile southwest of Long Lake West about September 9th 

 and was fought desperately, but increased in size; miles of trenches were 

 dug and over one hundred and fifty men worked on this fire day and night. 

 On Saturday, September 26th, the fire was thought to be under perfect 

 control. During the forenoon of Sunday, September 27th, a heavy wind 

 began to blow from the north and west, but suddenly shifted and blew a 



