The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-04-22
Five Hundred People Said to Be En-
trapped i'm Lumber Camps
and Settlements.
TELEGRAPH WIRES BURNED
AND DETAILS WERE DIFFICULT TO
OBTAIN LAST NIGHT.
Train Supposed to BE i'm Danger-Ffres
So Fierce a Metal Water
Tank Melted.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, April H.-The
caused by the bush fires now raging along
the line Of the Southeastern Railway. All
the country from La Broquerie, about fifty
miles down the line to Warren, Mimi,
distance of about seventy-five miles, is
known to be in the grasp of the fire. which
is sweeping the forest in all directions,
famed by a strong easterly wind. and the
number of human being entrapped is esti-
mated at fully $780, composed chiefly of scat
tered settlers and men employed in the
number of human beings entrapped is esti-
Keith. and j. Hylan. who had aggre-
gate of 900 men and $50 teams at work in
the district near vassar. a station about
eighty miles out and in the very center of
the region.
The wires are burned down, and no mes
sages have been received since o'clock
this morning Then the operator at Wood
Ridge. about ten miles this side of Vassar,
reported that the special bearing Buchanan
and Keith's men and railway officials had
been within four miles of vassar and was
driven back by the flames.
From stragglers who have escaped they
learned that 100 teams with all camping
men have scattered for their lives in all
directions One hundred thousand ties and
10000 cords of wood were burned and the
camps were completely encircled by the
raging flames. The special train had just
left on another trial to break through the
flames and attempt additional rescues.
Since that time no word has been received
and the officials conclude that Wood Ridge
is burned and that the train is entrapped.
The forest along the track is dense and re-
treat will be impossible.
A rescue train with strong force OF
men, doctors and supplies was dispatched
at noon and reached La Broquerie safely.
Beyond that the whole forest is mass of
flames and advance is impossible as the
track is burned and the retreat of the spe-
cial train is cut off.
Tonight the wires are all down and
news whatever can be obtained. A settler
from vassar, who reached the city this
evening, reports the whole country for
miles in flames and it is almost certain
that many lives are being sacrificed. For
tunately the district is thinly settled, but
the gravest fears are entertained that loss
Of life among the lumbermen will be Sc
we're, and the railway officials do not deny
that the special train is probably doomed.
The fire started on Tuesday last but
for several days it burned slowly on
account of the light winds. Thursday even
ing the wind rose and the flames gained
Roadway al an astonishing rate Before
many hours 1t was sweeping strip three
miles wide and destroying everything be-
fore 1t. Some idea of the fierceness of the
flames may be gathered from the fact that
the water tank at Vassar siding was de-
stroyed, though II was Of metal and was
filled with water at the time. Those COM
ing in on last nights train state that not
one stick of either Keith's or Buchanan's
outfits was saved. and that in all proba-
bility a great many horses persisted. One
man even went so far as saying that the
men had no time to escape from their
camps, owing to the rapidity with which
the fire travelled, and they were compelled
to fight back the flames from the open
space around their camping places. He
thinks they are hemmed in and that their
chances of escaping are slim.