The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1908-08-08


of Fernie. d. G.. has been destroyed
by fire. Every building except the
offices of the coal company has been
raxed by the flames.
OF the 1000 Inhabitants, oil but
500 have been rendered homeless by
the conflagration.
They were forced to flee back into
the hills. Suffering during the night
Is certain to be keen owing to the ex.
posture of many women and children.
Definite details Of the disaster are
meager because of interrupted com.
munication owing to a severe storm
that has been raging. 1t Is feared
that some Of the fire fighters have
sustained personal injuries.
Starts From Neglected Brush Fire.
A neglected brush fire Is the cause
of the calamity.
Word has been received from Gran
brook to forward all available provis-
ions. Relief trains have been started
with doctors, nurses and food on
board.
A brush fire had been raging for
several days on the opposite side of
Elk river from Fernie. Late this after
noon the flames leaped across the
stream and their progress was ire
sistible. :
Loss IL Over Two Millions.
AS near as can be estimated, the
total loss will be between $4,000
and 100000. The heaviest loser is
the Crows Nest Pass Coal Company,
whose local works are valued at $780,
900. The Elk River Lumber Company
will lose 100000. The largest
building in Fernie was that of the
Royal hotel and next came the Trites
Wood Company, both of which have
been reduced to ashes. No estimate
Of the amount Of insurance carried is
available.
Fires are also raging between Gran
brook and Crows Nest, and threaten
ing to destroy these towns.
At $3.50 o'clock this afternoon re-
port was received from Hosmer that
the Hosmer Lumber Company's mill
was on fire and that half dozen fam
lilies are cut off by the fire. All men
available have been called out to fight
the flames.
This is the second big fire for Fer
ME. A year or SO ago an enormous
landslide destroyed many lives and
much property. A flood also did great
damage not long ago.
Fernie, B. c., Aug. 3.-Seventy
blocks of smoldering ashes mark the
spot where, up to last Saturday, stood
the well built, thriving and ambitious
city of Fernie, with its 5000 popula-
ton.
Twelve bodies have been recovered,
but grave fears are entertained for
the safety of at least 200 people in the
logging camps and small settlements
in the burned district.
But fourteen residences and one
business house, isolated from the
fires path, remain.
One wall rears itself above the
ruins, the flames having RACED the
buildings and eaten their contents in
two hours. Between 700 and 800 FAM
lilies are homeless and destitute. The
property loss will reach 100000 in
the city proper, while the destruction
Of. commercial timber in the burned
and burning area of 200 square miles
will reach staggering figure.
Four Men Hemmed In.
Four men were hemmed in by the
flames and persisted while trying to
save the costly new bridge of the
Great Northern across Elk river. Their
bodies were found along the track,
where they had fallen in the attempt
to escape.
Peter Miller, Louis Fratin, a wom-
an, child and an unknown man per-
ished in the sawmill sections. The
bodies were recovered.
At Hosmer, a small town that was
saved after a hard struggle, four are
dead. John Cupik, to escape, crawled
into tunnel and was suffOcated. A
man, unknown and evidently burned
and mangled by falling timber, was
found in a school house, where he
had crawled to die. In cabin q
woman and child suffocated in each
others arms.
Three Million Loss.
General loss in city, including resi-
sdences and usual representative bust
ness concerns, eleven hotels, ETC., ST.
00O, 900.
All horses and other animals were
burned.
Long rows Of blazing coke ovens
alone remained proof against the
flames.
The intensity of the force Of the
gale is hard to comprehend The
writer was 100 miles away on the
east slope Of the Rockies. The gale,
laden with heated air and dust,
reached over the prairie like desert
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