40 Report of the Forest Commission. 



From incendiaries 6 



From camp fires 2 



From tramps 2 



From hunters 



From berry pickers 



From sugar makers 



From bee hunter 



From saw-mill 



From causes not stated 6 



From causes unknown 7 



62 



In addition to the above causes, there was an instance in which 

 a fire was caused by lightning. This occurred in the forest on 

 Buck mountain, Township 22, west side of Long Lake, Hamilton 

 county. 



The lightning was seen to strike a dead " stub," and a column 

 of smoke was observed immediately. The rain soon put the fire 

 out, as it occurred in July, a month in which fire will not run 

 very far in the woods, but it smouldered for several days in the 

 humus or "duff " as it is called. As no area of timber land was 

 burned over, this account does not appear in the foregoing reports. 



People who have never been present at a forest fire have but a 

 faint idea of the resistless energy and the appalling scenes which 

 characterize one of these events. To the direful phenomena is 

 added not only the destruction of property but too often a loss 

 of human life. 



For many years New York has been exempt from extensive 

 fires like those which, in other States, have swept over vast areas 

 of forest territory, leaving behind them a scorched and blackened 

 waste. This exemption is largely due, as before stated, to the 

 organization and work of the firewardens. Their successful 

 management is entitled to something more than a passing notice. 

 Some description of the services which they render, in case of 

 need, seem pertinent to this subject. 



A Forest Fire. 



It is spring time, and under the influence of the sun and warm 

 south winds the melting snow has disappeared from the recesses 

 of the woods. The dead leaves of the previous fall, which lie 



