The theocrat. [volume] (Zion City [i.e. Zion], Ill.) 1914-1949, 1918-10-26
VIVID DESCRIPTION OF A MINNESOTA
FOREST FIRE
A Wonderful Answer to Prayer

A Wonderful Answer to PRAYER
To any one who has fought fire. in the
early spring in the hill country of southern Ohio
or Indiana, or in the mountains of Kentucky.
West Virginia, or Tennessee, it is difficult to un
derstand the nature of the devastating forest
fires OF Minnesota.
In the foothills Of the Appalachian range, the
fires are more or less destructive to timber, and
even houses and barns in exposed clearings are
destroyed at times when the weather is very dry
and the wind strong; but in the forest fires of
Minnesota, large areas are swept in few hours
the fires spreading over the country with the
fury of hurricane. Homes of settlers are en-
quilted without warning and many people per-
lsh in the avalanche.
With the awful destruction of the Minnesota
forest tires OF fortnight ago-in which nearly
one thousand people perished and from thir-
teen to fifteen thousand were rendered home
less-stlll fresh In our memory, the following
description of the historical fire of 1910 by
Earl W. Casperson, Corporal in the Zion Guard
Is both Illuminating and intensely interesting
In relating the experience, he said:
Il had just moved with my wife and four
children from Wisconsin into the timber coun-
try bordering the Lake of the Woods in the ex
treme northern edge of Minnesota We settled
there IN August, and the fire occurred in Oc
tober We were living in little clearing
Twelve miles back in the dense pine spruce. and
balsam forest
In order that you may clearly understand
the i6SEacter Of Minnesota fire, will make an
ergreen trees of that region form
canopy overhead, but there is practically no
underbruSh. The ground is covered with
heaVy growth OF moss. Forest fires start with
what we call a ground fire. Fire in some wav
gets started In the moss At first it does not
Ourn rapidly, comparatively speaking, but it is
very hard to extingush, especially if in the heat
OF the day, and the wind is blowing. AS it
spreads, suction of air is produced. and it
gathers momentum. Finally the flames reach
so hlgh that they catch into the overhanging
ooughs, and instant combustion results. as the
needles and twigs are full of oil and resin. Tn
lew seconds the entire treetop is ablaze. burn
ing IKE powder. No human being can control
lorest nre AFTER that Almost faster than you
can think, 1t spreads from tree-top to tree-fon
broadening out from side to side as it travels
and progressing with the roar of a hurricane
One may scream or shout to their friends in the
midst OF this awful noise. but it is futile: he
cannot be heard -
These fires in the tree-tops which travel
with such velocity, merely consume the bouphs
leaving the denuded trunks standing They
continue TO spread over the country, until about
nine o clock at night, and then die down T}o
ground fires follow behind sweeping everv-
thing IN their path, the burning twigs having
cropped into the moss as the fire swept through
the tree-tops
The fire in the boughs produces but little
smoke, but the ground fires throw out dense
volumes, IN which it is impossible for man or
Deast to live for any length of time, unless thew
can find refuge in cellar or depression Of
some kind.
The ground fires not only consume the moss
but the very roots Of the trees then when the
heavy winds come, the trunks fall over. Tn this
way, vast amount of valuable timber is de- |
stroyed.
The fire Of 1910, of which You no doubt read
In the papers, started about a half mile east of
my house, on Sunday forenoon, being caused
by hunters knocking the ashes from their pipes |
INTO the dry moss. [ saw the heavy smoke ris- !
ing, and went down to investigate, and found it |
was ground fire coming up to an old logging
slashlng'-that is, collection Of dead tree-tops
left after the timber is cut and logged out.
9 started to fight the fire alone but soon saw |
1T was useless. The signal of forest fire
three shots with the ri1e-was given to arouse
the nelghbors. Twelve men quickly responded |
and we went straight to my house We dug |
hole IN the garden and buried every particle of |
furniture My wife and then went inside the
house and knelt down and prayed that God
would protect our home and spare our lives. If |
ever we prayed, we prayed that day
The neighbors tried to persuade us to leave.
but L refused to do so, saying that if we ran
INTO the forest the fire would only overtake us
and we would perish Nine Of the men soon