Los Angeles herald., 1910-08-27
P|NCHOT SAYS BIC
BLAZE AvO|DABLE
Former Forester Declares Loss
of Life and Property by
Fire Needless
SCORES POLITICAL ENEMIES
BIames congressman Who 0p-
posed Appropriation for
Forest Service
Associated Pressl

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26-Gifford
Pinchot of the National Conservation
association and former head of the
ment issued today holds that the loss
of property and life in the recent and
present forest fires was avoidable. The
disastrous results, he says, are trace
able to the unpreparedness to deal with
the fire situation. He scores members
of congress who have opposed appro-
priations for the proper equipment of
forest rangers and in that connec-
ton names Senator Hepburn of Idaho,
whose home town, Wallace, suffered
serious losses; Senator Carter of Mon
tana and Representative Mondell of
Wyoming. The statement follows:
"I am proud of the splendid work
the men of the forest service have been
doing against the western forest fires.
Many have given their lives to pro-
tect the homes of settlers and the for
ests on which the prosperity of the
western people depends. To my mind
their conduct is beyond all praise.
Forest fires are preventable. 1t is
a good thing for us to remember at
this time that nearly or quite all the
loss, suffering and death the fires have
caused was wholly unnecessary.
LACKS EQUIPMENT
"a fire in the forest is the same kind
Of thing as fire in the city. There
is only one way to fight either. The
fire department of every city is organ
lied with the prime idea of getting to
the fire when it is young. So with
the forest fires. The time to conquer
them is before they grow strong. If
a forest is equipped with roads, trails,
telephone lines and a sufficient num-
ber for patrol, there is no more likel1-
hood that great fires will be able to
get started than there is that great
confagrations like the great Chicago
fire will get started in a city with a
modern fire department. Under rare
circumstances they may, but the
chances are against 1t.
"The forest service has done wonders
with its handful of men. 1t has put
out every year thousands Of small fires,
any one of which under favorable con-
ditions might have developed into a
conf1agration which 10000 men could
not stop. This year, because of the
great drought, there were many fires
and the rangers were too few.
LESSON Is CLEAR
"The lesson from these fires is per-
fectly clear. When a city suffers from
a great fire 1t does not retrench in its
fire department, but strengthens 1t.
That is what the nation must do in the
national forests.
''The men in congress like Hepburn,
Carter and Mondell, who have made
light of the efforts of the forest SER
vice to prepare itself to prevent just
such calamity as this, have, in ERECT.
been fighting on the side of the fires
against the general welfare.
'If even a small fraction of the loss
from the present fires had been ex-
pended in additional patrol and pre-
ventive equipment, some or perhaps
nearly all of the loss could have been
avoided.
ct believe our people will take this
lesson to heart and insist that the set
tiers and their wives and children, the
lumbermen and the miners and the
$4,000 100000 worth of property in the
national forests shall be equally pro-
tected.'