Rocky Ford enterprise., 1908-08-07
Jt4-BT T>I 4
TOWN OF FERNlE, BRITISH! CO.
LUMsIA. SCENE OF OIsAs- g.
TRoUs CONFEDERATION. 'N
THOUSANDS HOMELESS
ONE HUNDRED SQUARE MILES
SWEPT BY FLAMES WITH A
HEAVY LOSS OF LIFE.

ME. B. c.. is wiped off the map as a
child cleans slate; Michel. fourteen
miles distant. is in flames. and the
fate of Hosmer, Olsen and Sparwood,
intervening towns, Is In doubt, they be,
Ing cut off from atl communication. NJ.
Il1it Over 100 lives are lknowno TO have
been lost. seventy-four Of them In
'Fernie. -,y V ,,aq.z..gg-,,a..
4 Apterrl,ory Of 100 square miles ii
extent is a seething mass Of flames to.
\ nighto lsunday).s Through itoare scat
Etered hundreds Of lumbermen and
.prospeCtors, SO that. the actual loss OF
| lie swnl not. be known for dayx. Sn,mto SI2
The property Of the Canadian Pa.
cific apd Great Northern railways. Is
A destr0yed. the bridges, and rolling,
stock burned. SO that IT Is. Impossible
+ to enter or leave the burning "a atea
The inhabitants of the TOWNS have Ned
tto open districts IL the vicinity in The. The
Ths, railway cordpauies have plarf
all available trains AT their disposal,
and unless there Is 2 change Of wind III
the next twenty-four hours the whole
Of the Crows Nest Pass country xdll'
q There is no possibility Of estimating
the loss OF life and property which will
Il
half gale. making II impossible to put
up a fight against their advance. The;
conflagration is the greatest which has
ever visited Canada and ranks only
| with the San francisco disaster. nav
For the last month forest, fires have
! been raging In the mountains OF the
| Elk River valley country. but they:
have not been considered serious,
| Saturday morning heavy wind sprang
up from the west and early In the af.
tcrnoon the flames appeared over the
| crest Of the mountains to the west OF
Fernie. This ran down the mountain
side and before the fire guard could
be organized had entered the town.
| Within an hour the town WIS doomed
| and the. .inha bitaDts sought safety In
flight, leaving their all behind Them.
All night and this morning the exc.
4 das continued. the destination being a
small prairie in the valley three miles
l south of the town. AT present i.OM
people afe caniped there in Ttht, of,en.
their, only protectiou7l being shelters
built OF brush or blankets. d while; .
| constant shower. Of SPARKS from 1hfA
burning area keeIs falling through The
pail Of smoke by, which they ares are SUI 81
For a time Il eomniunication' Win
| vOWuH 10 tn0 B1hV WHS htDt oisch, wv
4 with the burning of tho bridges acrosa
the Elk river this why closed ysdj lol
4 T. The hills in' all directions are a
seething, mass. Of nflamesp cutting off
every avenue Of escape. The "a fire
spread with unprecedented rapldity
i and Il Is feared that several parties
who tried 70 get through the pass have
4 been cut off, Ci I5I .eT7pill p.'pHs tSh'
H. In Fernie the only buildings REMAINS
e. Ing are six small shacks on the banks
! OF The Eik-fIyef. Offices OF The
Crows Nest Coal Company. and the
Fixes woodware iiotIseS The 1ficrs of
jthe Canadian factficA raiirpa't and the
FGreat Northern are gone together
,a1s y,a II 2 81 n IN BEING ,ns
1.-The only. carlefG- lipQSS
7 One hundred cars OF coke. the prop
erty Of the Great Northern, are gone
and the stock plies Of coal and coke,
4 holding about, half n million tons, are
in flames. II Is now feared that the
fro may get iui the mines ithsnselves.
1 several of which Afe 6I,en'ih the neigh
borhood. This, will mean incalculable
damage az the whole Of the valley IN
underlaid with coal.
AT present the fire is following the
crest 50f the moantain chain - Shows
Sparwood. eating down into the
valleys on either side. II Is travelling
at D tremendous rate and unless there
Is h change OF wind will cross the
boundary into Montana within the
next twelve hours. There Nsre thou
sands of mines and l:rospectors'
claims in the track of the fire. all OF
/ which are in peril. A slight change of
wind has occurred and Mitchell has
been taken out of the, more direct
path. eF %
A correspondent at Mitchell wires
as follows: lE3tE
"There is now some hore Of saving
the business section Of the town and
every available man Is on duty. Pre-
mier Campbell has. arrived from the
Sparwood district on q handcar with
three men. all Of whom arc badly
burned. They were at once taken to
the hospital. two Of them In a pre-
carious condition. Mr.. Forester. man
ager of the mill. with his wife and
about thirty men. were last seen try
ling to save the mill. A line OF flames
cut them off from escape to the east
and unless they haye been able to get
through to the west all arc dead. for
the country Is like a furnace" IDil
On the way the party found the body
of Peter Miller lying on the Canadian
Pacific railroad He had succumbed
to wounds received while trying to
escape from the fire.
& The bodies OF four men we're brought
here by a Great Northern yard engine.
These men had lost their lives trying
Eto5 save Great Northern bridge
saeross the Ely nyer.W fifteen
miles south OF here. oThey mad
kept up the fight till their return was
cut off and lost their lives In vain at-
tempts. Y ~ JIiDli IiE iL~ y
The Great Northern tried to open
Communication to the south, but the
destruction OF two bridges has cut
them off absolutely. a-a-s-a. . .-As.,1,s1aI