Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-06-12
FIRE PROTECTION

Our first practical warning Of the season |
against the danger of forest fires in Ver- |
mont has come in the form Of a good-szed |
blaze on the farm of the Waterbury Last /,
Block company, three miles from the town |
of Waterbury, which burned over about |
80 acres of forest land 1t took heroic ef- |
forts on the part of about so men, direct |
ed by State Forester w. G. Hastings and !
Fire Warden Philip Shonio to get the fire |
under control, it having nearly reached
one of the houses at one time.
1t is hoped that the possibilities which |
were opened up by the quick spreading |
over small amount of SLASH" will be
real warning to timber owners and man.
ayers all over the State. This is the time |
Of years when the danger from forest fires
is at its height, and it is especially impor-
tant that unusual care should be taken
at time such as the dry period through
which have just passed. At such a
time, it takes but spark to ignite a fire
which will spread rapidly and inside Of "a
hours, before it could be controlled, it
might destroy hundreds Of dollars worth
of property and perhaps human lives also.
State Forester Hastings has taken great
pains to guard against forst fires in the
State this year. having arranged for the
establishment Of several new fire lookout
stations in different sections Of the State,
to be manned Jointly by the State and the
timber interests in that section of the
State where the station is established.
Such stations. placed at points of vantage,
where large tracts Of timber can be sur
veyed, have proved of great value in the
past in locating fires which might other
wise prove disastrous. If they had not
been caught in time.
Such preventive measures are, Of course,
praiseworthy and fire wardens are a great
aid in preventing the spread of fire, but
the real protective element against forest
fires is the education Of the general pub
lie so that people will understand just how
dangerous forest fires may become and so
that carelessness in starting fires at this
time Of year may be done away with.
For every fire has it's source Of course
and usually that source may be found in
some kind of carelessness.
1t has been number Of years since Ver-
mont has had any very destructive forest
fires. Whether this is due to unusual care
on the part Of the people Of the State, or
simply to good luck, is hard to say. but,
as State Forester Hastings stated in
conversation earlier in the season. 1t is a
time of this kind, when there have been
no serious forest fires for a few years,
that we should be most careful to pre-
vent them. for they are sure to come
Just when we have eased ourselves into
the belief that we are safely protected
from them
1t is not only the fact that people some
times get careless and do not take the
proper interest in trying to prevent fires
in the forests, when they have not re-
Gently been visited by dangerous blaze,
but there seems to be some sort Of Nemesis
at work which visits certain section of
the country about once Is so often with
destructive fires Many times this seems
to happen in spite of the vigilance of the
citizens in that section. A close survey
of the records of forest fires in this coun-
try during the past 60 years will show
that large forest acres have suffered from
disastrous fires about once In every seven
or eight years. It ia possible that there
comes time in the life of a forest when
1t is more susceptible to fire than at other
times, and so 1t is harder to prevent fires
from spreading when once started If this
be true, 1t is all the more reason why
extra vigilance should be taken at sucn
times to keep fires from starting.
In any case. it is the bounden duty Of
every good citizen Of Vermont to keep
on the alert during these summer months.
and SO do his part to help State Forester
Hastings and the fire wardens and look
outs to keep fires from getting a start in
our forests which. as we shall soon come
to realize more than we do to-day. are
one of our most valuable assets. This is
. time when, as never before. Vermont
needs to guard her natural resources.