The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1914-02-23
Fire Damage Kept Down.

as many as started in 1912, the best year
the forests have ever had.
Fire Damage Kept Down.
Notwithstanding the great increase in
the number of fires, Forester Graves con-
siders that the showing made by the for
est service was quite as favorable as that
in the preceding year, because the dam
age done and the costs of fire fighting
were no greater proportionately than in
1912. In both years practically so per
cent OF all fires were detected and ex-
tingnished before they burned over a
quarter of an acre, and 25 per cent of
both years fires were put out before
they covered 10 acres. OF last years
| fires, 3,27s, or considerably more than the
whole number of fires in 1912, were con-
/ fined to areas of less than 10 acres, and
| in 1850 additional fires less than 800
/ damage was done by each In only Is
| fires did the damage amount to ST 900.
| The aggregate loss In timber is esti-
mated at nearly 100000 board feet,
F, valued at about $4,000 and the damage
to young growth and forage is estimated
at about $4,000, making total OF
about $4,000. About Is per cent OF
| this loss, however, was incurred on pri-
vate lands within the forests, where I6
! per cent of the fires had their origin.
Care With Engines Increasing.
One encouraging feature is that the to-
tai number of fires set by railroad loco
motives was scarcely more than in the
preceding year and represented only IL
80 Ill so. u. N
lper cent in 1912; also the proportion set
by sawmills and other engines in the
woods was considerably less than in 1912.
This indicates very plainly, Mr.. Graves
says, that the public il awakening to the
need of spark arresters and care with en-
gines in the woods.
Causes of Increase in Fires.
Looking for the reason of the increase
in number of fires, the forester finds
three main causes
First OF all, the unprecedented electric
storms which swept the whole state of
California at the end of a long dry sea
son and set, almost simultaneously, about
700 fires. The s04 fires set by lightning
in California formed nearly so per cent
of the 1928 fires on the national forests
of the state from all causes, and were
more than half of the ] ST. lightning set
fires in all the 81 states reporting.
In the second place, there were ISL fires
which started outside the forests, OF
which GA were stopped by the govern
ment's tire-tighters before they reached
the forest boundaries, as against 424
which started on outside areas in 1919. |
However, the proportion of such fires to |
all those which the service battled with
was about the same for 1912 and 1918. |
Incendiary Fires.
The other increased cause of fires was
incendiarism, but this increase was CON
fined to three states, Arkansas, Califor-
MIA, and Oregon, all Others showing a |
marked decrease. OF the ASP incendiary
fires, l2S were in Arkansas, 1873 in Cali |
fornia, and lag in Oregon, where two
brothers were known to have set " on
one forest alone. These two and other
incendiaries were, of course, severely
dealt with by the law. On the Arkan-
sas forest, too, it has been assumed that /
the 35l fires classed under the general
heading of origin unknown" were main
ly incendiary. In California the incen-
diary fires are largely attributable to
what is known as the light burning
theory" which advances the argument
that forests should be burned over fire.
quently to prevent the accumulation of
debris. The forest services considers this
a pernicious theory because it scars the
timber and thus reduces its
value; itr obs the forest soil of it's abil-
ity to retain moisture, and effectually
prevents the reproduction of the forest,
since such fires destroy all three seed
lings before they have chance to get
good start.
Lightning Caused Most Fires
In 1912, lightning caused more fires
than any other agency, followed closely
by railroads, campers, and ineendiaries,
in the order given. In 1918, however,
the fires caused by lightning outnum-
bered the next nearest cause by more
than three to one, but the order-raiI-
roads, campers, and ineendiaries-re-
NAMED the same as in 1912. A consid-
srable decrease in the proportion set by
and campers, indicates, accord
ng to forest officers, growing careful
ness on the part of the general public.
Last year, as in 1912, California led
I'll others in number of fires, this lead
,eing natural because California has such
/ long dry season. It was followed by
Arkansas, Arizona, and Oregon, in the
rider named. Kansas, which had only
me fire in 1912, escaped without any in
Ola North DaEnfa rnnaa Tod ifs record