The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-09-02
OVER 100 PERISH IN
CANADIAN FOREST FIRE
Six Thousand Homeless and
100000 Damage Done.
ELEVEN TOWNS WIPED OUT
Railroads Suffered Heavy Losses in
Bridges and Rolling Stock, and
Were Unable to Succor Persons
Driven From Their Homes.

Winnipeg, Manitoba. - One hun
dred lives lost, 100 square miles
burned over and six towns destroyed
or partly destroyed, is the story in
brief of the ravages Of a bush fire
which swept through the Crows
Nest, Pass County.
The town of Fernie, B. c., is de-
stroyed. Michel, fourteen miles
away, suffered heavily by the flames.
Hosmer, Olson and Sparwood, inter-
vening towns, were cut off from all
communication. Seventy-four lives
were lost in Fernie alone.
The whole country is a seething
mass of flames. Through it are scat
tered hundreds of lumbermen and
prospectors, so that the actual loss of
life will not be known for days. The
properties of the Canadian Pacific
and Great Northern railways in the
section are destroyed, their bridges
and rolling stock being burned, so
that it is impossible to enter or leave
the burning area. The inhabitants
of the towns have fled to the open
districts.
The flames are driven by strong
winds, making it impossible to fight
their advance. The confagration is
the greatest which has ever visited
Canada. A heavy wind sprang up
from the west, and early in the after
noon the flames appeared over the
crest of the mountains to the west of
Fernie. They ran down the mount
tainside, and before a fire guard
could be organized had entered the
town. Within an hour the town was
doomed, and the inhabitants sought
safety in fight, leaving all property
behind them. All night and next
morning the exodus continued, the
destination being a small prairie in
the valley, three miles south of the
town. Three thousand persons are
now camped there in the open, their
only protection being shelters built
of brush and blankets.
For a time communication with
towns to the east was kept open, but
with the burning of the bridges across
the Elk River this was closed. Scat
tered throughout the valley are many
small prairies, and all of these have
their groups of refugees. The hills
in all directions are a Seething mass
Of flames, cutting off every avenue of
escape. The fire spread with unprece-
denied rapidity, and it is feared that
several parties who tried to get
through the pass have been cut off.
Families have been separated, and
there is at present no means of esti-
mating the fatalities.
In Fernie the only buildings which
remain are six small Shacks on the
bank of the Elk River, the Offices Of
the Crows Nest Coal Company and
The Fixes & Wood warehouse.
The offices of the G. P. R. and G.
N. W. are destroyed, together with
all the rolling stock in the yards, the
sleeping car Osceola being the only
ear left.
The fire followed the crest of the
mountain chain above S~parwood, eat
Ing down into the valleys on either
side. 1t travelled at a tremendous
rate.
There are dozens of mines and
D~rospectors' claims in the track of the
fire, all of which are in peril. Fire
fighting apparatus is of no avail, for
the air is filled with fragments Of
burning wood and bark, and sheets
Of flame seem to leap ahead Of the
confederation.