The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-01-01
NATIONAL FOREST
FIRES IN 1914
DANGER Was Gre attest Since the Es-
tabIishment Of the National
Forests According to
Report.
DROUGHT WAS A FACTOR
Department Of Agriculture Obliged
to Incur a Deficit Of $349, 243
in Order to Protect
the Forests.

The season OF 1914 according to
the officials of the forest service, car
ried greater danger from fire to the
national forests than any year since
the establishment Of the national for
ests. To meet this emergency and
to prevent great loss Of public prop
erty, the department of agriculture
was obliged to exceed the amount ap-
propriated for FIRE protection and In
cur deficiency OF $349,243. The con-
ditions Of drouth and other factors OF
forest fire hazard were said to be
worse than in 1910, when the disas-
trous Idaho fires occurred.
Weather bureau reports show that
In most Of the Rocky mountain and
Pacific coast region last winters
SHOWS were much below the normal,
and as a result there was an early
spring and an early drying out OF the
forests. In western Montana and
northern Idaho there were forest
fires in considerable numbers by the
end of May and they continued until
October. In California, where there
is normally very long season OF
drouth, the fire season started In
some portions FIVE weeks earlier than
usual, and in the southern part of the
state the fire danger was still great
at the end of November. A long dry
season, sustained periods of high tenn
perature, recurring hard and steady
winds, and, in certain places, unusual
ly hot, dry nights. rendered the Tor
ests exceedingly infammable and the
problem Of fire prevention unusually
difficult.
More Than Six Thousand Fires.
The total number Of fires during
the season of 1914 which threatened
the national forests and which had
to be handled by the protective organ
ization OF the forest service were s.
112, or about 1000 more than occur
red in 1910. This number represents
the fires reported up to December l..
At that time reports indicated that
there was still dangerous condition
in southern California and In certain
portions of the national forests OF the
east. The service says that the total
for the year will be increased by fires
in these regions during December.
The most serious conditions are re-
ported from western Montana and
northern Idaho and on the Pacific
slope. The weather conditions in the
central and southern Rocky mountain
regions were more nearly normal. AS
a consequence only Is percent OF the
total number of all national forest
fires occurred in these regions and
they were handled without difficulty
ana with very small loss of property.
OF the entire 6,112 fires which
threatened the national forests, 81
percent were extinguished by the pro-
tective organization before they had
covered ten acres. The percentage of
fires that burned over more than ten
acres was smaller than in any pre-
vious year.
While detailed reports have not yet
been received appraisfng the exact
loss to the government through the
forest fires, preliminary estimate
shows that the loss Of merchantable
timber will probably not exceed $780,
600. In 1910 the corresponding estf-
mate Of loss was nearly s15,000,00O,
but later estimates materially re-
duced the amount. Through the work
of the protective force the fires this
year we're largely confined to old
burns and to less heavily timbered
acres. The loss to the government
through the destruction Of young
trees which had sprung up in these
openings is larger than the actual
loss to green timber.
Region Of Greatest Danger.
In Montana and Idaho alone, it IS
said that the value of specific bodies
of timber which were threateneG by
the approximately 1000 fires which
started and We're put out, aggregated
the enormous sum Of over $4,000, 900
1t was in this section that the largest
amount Of money had to be spent to
prevent a recurrence OF the great dis
aster of 1910. In Oregon and Wash
ington, the 1900 fires which were
handled by th., department threatened
upwards Of s24,00o,0G0 worth of TIM
Der. And these figures. according to
the department experts, do not in
clude the value Of non-merchantable
timber and young growth on about
5000, 900 acres Of land, and several
million dollars worth of ranch and
other private property which lay in
the path of the threatening confiagra-
tiopc Eip,1ras arc not VET gathered
of the precise amount Of damage
threatened by fires in California and
other national forest states, though
they are expected to add large
amounts to the total value of the