The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1914-01-17

7
ed to or found burning by them. The
railway company must employ add
tional labor If such action is neces
sary 10 the eXtinguishment of par
ticular fire. II will be noted that the
whole field organization of the rail
way is made a part of the fire fighting
machine.
In order 20 fix definitely the re
| sponsibility for eXtinguishing a rar
! ticular fire. the order provides that
any fire starting or burning within zee
/ feet Of the track shall be presumed
10 have started from the railway I'M
less proof 10 the contrary is furnished
The burden Of proof is thus put
squarely on the railway company
The idea is TO get the fire cut first
and then talk about /, later. II nee.
essary.
Where tie fire danger is serious
special patrols are necessary. Here
advantage is taken Of the provision
of the order that the railway com
pany shall provide and maintain a
force of fre.fighting rangers fit and
sufficient for efficient patrol and fire
fighting duty during the fire season,
all the details of the establishment
and maintenance Of such force To be
subject TO the supervision ard dircc
tion of the chief fire inspector CT
other authorized officer of the Loard
This requirement for the establish
ment of special patrols at the e.
pense Of the railways themselves IS
the most progressive and perhaps the
most radical feature of the order. and
constitutes its chief distinguishinc
characteristic So far as known
neither the national or state govern
ment in the United States has enact
ed legislation along this line which
approaches this so far as placing the
burden of fire protection upon the
railways themselves is concerned. II
has been reported, however that the
state of Maine is considering the en-.
actment of legislation of a very SINH
lar character.
AS previously noted, the require
ments as to the use of fire protective
appliances are enforced through a
special staff of inspectors in the oper
ating department of the board
For the enforcement Of the balance
of the order and the inspection of the
work of the railway cimpanies. co.
operative plan has been developed
whereby certain officials Of the Brit
ish Columbia Forest Branch, and of
the Dominion Forestry and Parks
Branches have been appointed Off.
GERS Of the fire inspection DEPART
mCnt Of the board, with authority to
deal directly with the railway com
panies in the west and TO vary the
requirements up or down as the local
conditions at any time or place may
require or permit. In this way. a
perfectly elastic system Of admins
tration is provided, so that necessary
protection is assured at a minimum
of cost to the railway companies and
with a minimum of red fape and loss
of time. ,l d.. ........
A similar plan of cooperation is
now being worked out with the Pro
vincial governments in the east,
whereby officers OF the Provincial
forestry OF fire.protective branches
will be designated 10 handle the 10.
cal details of fire inspection for the
board The policy is to expand the
existing local machinery to cover this
work, instead Of establishing q new
and separate staff.
A special point is made Of relieving
railway companies of the necessity
for special patrols when weather cen.
ditions are such that special pa.
troll is not necessary This is Likely
to be the case in the carly summer
while vegetation is in green and
nsn-combustible condition
To considerable extent, special
men are ASSIGNED to the inspection
work and devote their whole time 10
it, so that maximum Of efficiency
is assured.
Efficient protection Is obviously
not only essential to the public inter
est but IL is the only correct policy
from the point of view Of the rail
ways themselves. From the purely
selfish poirt of view. this is true. be-
cause, with rapidly increasing stump
age values. timber owners are no long.
er willing to sit quietly by and allow
their property to be destroyed without
any attempt at recourse. The com.
paratively recent granting Of several
verdicts for very large sums against
Canadian railway companies for fire
damage caused ty locomotives has
strongly emphasized this feature OF
the situation. The interest alone on
some of the amounts for which YER
diets have been rendered would pro
vide efficient protection over hundreds
Of miles of railway line.
From the longtime point of view
the argument is even stronger, since
forest fires will inevitably result in
a future decrease Of freight and pas
senger traffic as well as in raising the
price Of ties and other wood products
which the railway companies must
purchase for their own use. per
feet example Of the latter point is fur
nished by the railway lines running
through western Ontario, where. as a
result Of repeated forest fires, even
tie-timber has become so scarce that