Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-11-05
HOW DO FOREST
FIRES START
The Question ss Answered by the Ma
tional Department OF rore.tvx.

|
What starts these forest ares7 Thi,
question has been asked over and
over again this summer by reader,
OF the accounts Of the dcstructiv,
fires which have been raging in ali
parts of the country.
| Campers and locomotives. is the
usual answer. Many Of the other
things which start bIazes in the for
est are forgotten. 1t is true that per.
haps one-half to three-fourths of the
| forest fires do begin as a result OF the
| carelessness of some camper, or from
sparks flying from locomotives. but
there are number OF things which
| set the woods aflre.
| A complete report OF forest fires on
| the private forests of the country and
their causes is not kept by anyone.
Uncle Sam. however. Is most careful
to account for the damage done by
the blazes on his timberland under
forest administration. aggregating
about 10000. 900 acres, and each year
tho total area burned over. the timber
land burned over, the amount of tim
her destroyed aud It's value, the cost
of lighting fires. and the causes Of
reports are made at the end Of the
calender year. and the announcement
of this years losses will therefore not
be knswn for more than two mon tbs
Last years figures. however. give a
good idea Of the things which cause
fires in forests. OF the 1855 fires dis
covered on the national forests last
year. all OF which were checked by
the rangers before they had burned
over fourteen hundrcths of one per
cent. Oi-lOO OF per cent? Of the ma
uonal forest area, campers caused BAG
while railroads followed next with
273 lightning came next with l76:
donkey engines used In numbering
operations. fourth with 65: careless
brush burning by homcstoaders clear
ing land, "a; fires caused by incen-
diaries and those set by herders and
hunters, 30 For more than 400 of the
fires tho cause Is not known This is
not strange when IT is remembered
that a fire may smolder for days. II
the air Is too thick to permit the
smoke to be seen at distance be-
fore It breaks out when famed by a
wind SO as TO reveal It's presence to
the watchful forest officer
While campers caused more fires
than locomotives last year, there are
many seasons when the railroads
hold undisputed claim to first place.
Forest fires started by both are most
" unnecessary. If campers would ex-
ercisc care in starting camp fires and
be sure that they are extinguished
before they are left. and II the rail-
road companies would use the most
II is reasonable to think that the an
nual forest fire loss could be reduced
more than one-half. Lightning ranks
third among tho causes of fires. ari
OF course. man has no greater respon-
sihility In this case than to put the
fire out as soon as possible after dis
covery Careless brush burning by
homesteaders and persons clearing
land is said to be the cause of many
year. particularly those which have
swept over the Lake States.
The ranger force on many Of the
national forests has been kept busy
fighting fires which. II left to run un
checked, would have done incalculable
damage. BY quickening communica-
ION between important points through
the construction of telephone lines.
and building roads and trails. the ma
ional forests have been made more
accessible during the past two years
and Are hghting has been greatly
"a ciliated.