Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1903-08-05
FOREST FIRES.
COMMISSIONER MAKES REPORT
OF DAMAGE DONE.
LOSS WAS MORE THAN MILLION DOLLARS
ABOUT PER CENT. OF WOODED
AREA OF STATE BURNED.



Commissioner Ring has at last COM
pleted and made public q report of the
damage to timber land by the forest fires
of last June. This report is in the form
of a bulletin, and makes a pamphlet of
twenty printed pages. 1t couCsins q com
plete tahulated list of all the fires which
occurred during the days when it seemed
that sill of the timber land OF north bern
Maine must be destroyed. This tsbuIa
tion is made by counties, aud gives the
acreage burned over and the amount Of
damage sustained from each Dire. In this
way it is very valuable, aud is the first &C.
curste statement OF the damage which
was done to the States timber land.
In addition to these tables there are
quotations from the law for the protec-
ton of forests and providing for the hir-
ing OF competent fire wardens to patrol
the forests and to look after fires,
together with full list of these wardens.
By the report it is shown that there
were 297 fires during the drouth, which
burned over 29i 142 acres OF timber land,
about per &C Mt. Of the WOO e ara # tie
hdfbNst " tue hItOhut vi
81 ESQ 60. The substance OF the report
follows:
THE DROUGHT.
"rbe past spriag has been history
making epoch in the way of extreme
drouth, which extended over several
weeks with scarcely q drop OF rain.
w lille all Interests suff .reo, none we're in
more jeopardy than the vast timberlands
of the State. The oldest inhs bitants fail
to recall SO long a period OF drouth, or
time when so many acres of forest land
were in imminent danger of being swept
by flames.
NV lille the area burned over may not
equal that OF the forest fire W hich swept
many townships in mort tSerp Maine in
October, 1925, aud oft times referred to as
the Miramichi fire, on account OF its oc
curing on the same date as that famous
New Brunswick confisgration, the des-
truction is more widely spread as to local
ity. Hundreds OF fires seemed to spring
up simultaneously in all sections OF the
State, and burned fiercely until checked
by the efforts Of fire wardens and thous-
ands of men pat on by the State, tim ber-
land owners and town officials.
1.-The condition of the forests were prime
for just such fires as occurred. The ssed-
iment' left after the disappearance of the
winters snow, together with the dried
leaves and underbrush made a litter which
very slight spark would ignite. Not
only was the surface extremely dry, but
the ground from tine lack of rain burned
almost as readily as peat, making it diff
cult to extinguish a fire which would
shoulder for days after the blaze was
apparently extinguished on the exterior.
THE GREAT GALE.
although many fires were continually
breaking out they were quite readily ex-
tinguished, and all were held under con-
troll until the heavy gale of June 8. o.
that date heavy wind commenced blow
ing from the northwest tanning the small
fires into fierce CONGREGATIONS until it
seemed as all the wooded area in the fire
districts was doomed. The whole Sta
was enveloped in smoke, and on the fol-
lowing day SO dense was the smoke that
artificial light had to be resorted to In Of
fees and residences early iu the afternoon,
and by 6 O'Clock it was as dark as night.
The wind, however, had abated, and the
wardens and crews fighting the fires once
more got the flames under control, but
not until much valuable timberiand had
been burned over. Small fires were re-
ported here and there after the heavy gale
until June 8, when the 'all out was
| sounded in the way of most welcome
heavy rain extending over every State.
THE localities suffering The most were
| along townships considerably settled and
| tracts easily accessible. Tne uuinha hited