Los Angeles herald., 1910-08-26
Stories of Death, Destruction and
Heroism Come from Scene
of Holocaust
ARMY OF MEN FIGHTS FLAMES
Critical Period of ConfIagration
Is Believed to Have Now
Passed
Continued from Paxs onsl

a still larger party on the st. Joe'
is SAFE The forest service announces
loss of twenty-seven men on Big creek
and It may be that these are a party
of the ninety-five dead reported by
their comrades in Spokane today. IL
is supposed the twenty bodies lound
on Bitter Root creek, near Avery, are
those of settlers.
LOSS HEAVIEST SATURDAY
Twenty-four bodies found on Setser
creek are those of forest employees.
The forest officers In Wallace are un-
able to give out the names Of the
dead, but 1t Is thought that most or
the men were newly hired for the fire
emergency and their names are not
recorded officially. Probably few Of
the skilled forest men have perished.
It should be understood the loss OF
life in the fire country took place last
Saturday and Sunday, when gaze
famed smoldering embers into great
fires and drove flames through the
mountains with the speed of express
trains, giving defeated fire fighters no
chance to flee for their lives.
The weather today Is calm and cool,
and the fire, even where left to itself,
is travelling slowly. The attention or
the forest service is centered upon the
missing men, and the larger fires are
being left to themselves. The thick
smoke in Spokane today might be
taken to mean an increase of fires,
but it really signifies there is no w1nd'
and this condition is favorable to sub
sidence of the flames.
All estimates of the loss place 1t
at more than twenty million dollars,
mostly in timber. None of the towns
in Idaho and Montana are in danger,
and in fact the critical period of the
fire is past. What remains to be done
now is to seek out the missing, to find
and bury the dead, to feed and clothe
the homeless.
ARMY OF FIRE FIGHTERS
Until today 1t was not realized how
many men were engaged in last Satur-
days battle with the devouring flames:
The Coeur d'Alene national forest had
1000 men under It's direction, the towns,
mines, logging camps and the hrins
turned out all their able-bodied men,
the railroads sent all their employees
that could be spared, tramps were
pulled from trains and compelled TO
work and in a general way it may be
said that every man competent 10
bear arms was induced to serve ms
country. With this great number or
men in the woods and not successtul
in their efforts, except that they were
able to avert destruction of the towns
will probably be less than 300, is to
be marveled at.
Sixty-five men, natives of the Medi-
terranean countries, arrived In Spokane
today from Big creek and said that
fifteen Austrians and two American
choppers were burned to death last
Saturday. From the survivors de-
scription it appears that these victims
were working at point farther up the
creek than the thirty Italians already
reported dead. The Austrians were
undertaking to back fire, but their
work was so unskillful that they were
killed by the fire which they them
selves had just lighted, which ran back
TO them and drove them against
wall of flame advancing from the other
direction. Following is revised list
of the dead:
United States fire fighters, near Idaho,
Sc; Montana deaths, including Bullion
mine, 13; at Newport Wash, 3; at
Wallace, Idaho A; near Avery, Idaho
probably settlers, AZ; at Mullan, Idaho,
2; at Spokane, 1; on Big creek
Idaho, At.