Conservation Commission 89 



Less than two-tenths of one per cent of the area under pro- 

 tection was burned. The cost of protection on the entire area of 

 7.270,000 acres included in the fire towns was less than one cent 

 per acre. This figure includes salaries and expenses of the fire 

 protection force, expense of equipment, and the cost of extra 

 labor employed to fight fires. 



There were four bad fires during the year, three in the Adiron- 

 dacks and one in the Catskills. The first was in the town of 

 Keene, Essex county, and burned over 425 acres of State land. 

 This fire was thought to be of incendiary origin, although all 

 efforts to apprehend the offenders have failed. 



The second fire was in the town of Santa Clara, Franklin 

 county. It started from a small fire — probably left by fisher- 

 men — when a terrific wind sprang up on the afternoon of May 

 31 and swept the flames across 1,550 acres of State land before 

 they could be controlled by the fire fighters. All but eighty-five 

 acres of the above area was land which had previously been burned 

 over. 



The third fire occurred in the town of Xorth Elba, Essex 

 county, in the latter part of June. It was apparently caused by 

 the carelessness of some person passing along the trail from Lake 

 Placid to Mt. Marcy. The fact that the fire, although in an al- 

 most inaccessible portion of the mountains, did not burn over 

 more than 200 acres before it was checked, redounds greatly to 

 the credit of the fire fighters. 



In the Catskills no great damage was done by fires, until one 

 was started near Mt. Pleasant, presumably by hunters, on October 

 12. Although quick action by the ranger force got men on the 

 fire line promptly and kept them there day and night until rain 

 finally came, a large quantity of timber was destroyed on the 450 

 acres burned over. 



It is interesting to note the effect of the period of dry weather 

 as indicated by the accompanying tabulation of fires classified 

 by months and counties. More fires originated in May than in 

 any other month. May -is ordinarily a bad month for fires since 

 the snow has mostly gone from the ground and the green vegeta- 

 tion has not yet appeared. These conditions prevailed this year, 

 and to make matters worse very little rain fell during the entire 

 month. 



