New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1919-02-05
MUCH NEEDED AEGIsLATgoN


must look after at once is that Of fireI|
protection in the forest regions. The
big sums needed for road Improvements
must not be allowed to dwarf the for
est appropriation at this session of the;
legislature and it will be an everlasting
shame to Burnquist if he does not IN
sist on legislation that will do some
thing towards preventing repetition Of
the horror for which his own careless
ness and that Of his public safety com
mission was directly responsible
From the newspaper reports pub
lished Of the disastrous forset fire that
wrought such havoc in the northern
part Of the State, many people were
led to believe that the fire swept from
the vicinity Of Bermidji to Duluth.
Such views are in error as are also those
which treat the calamity mysterious
or unavoidable visitation of the wrath of
God. 50
According to w. F. Fox, State Forester,
the fire was wholly and easily preventable
He says groups Of quietly smoldering
fires were famed by sixty-mile gaze
into running fires that united to form
a solid front, which in the case Of the
fire that destroyed Moose Lake appears
to have had a front on the west line
OF Carlton county of approximately
seven miles. The Arthyde fire, to
the south, had three-mile front; the
Corona fire, to the north, four-rnile
front; and the Cloquet fire, six or eight
mile front. A number of other fires,
some very intense, burned scattered
settlements and even into the suburbs
OF Duluth. The force of the gale was
so great that the fires were driven for
ward on a front which constantly di-
minished in width. The several intense
fires, therefore, were in comparatively
narrow strips, separated by large belts
OF green timberlands; and twenty miles
is perhaps as great a distance as any
OF these fires travelled.
These fires, like all other great forest
fires, resulted from carelessness on
the part of great many people. In
cendiarism in the sense of setting fires
deliberately to destroy property Through
conflagration) was not the chief cause.
The devasting fires of October IL
sprang in the main from burning
marsh or bog fires, the number of which
had been increasing as the fall season
opened up. These fires were set by
careless people travelling over peat road
grades, by railroad locomotives or by
land owners who were willing to risk
their own and their neighbors' families
in the hope of finding an easy way of
clearing their marsh, peat, or cut-over
lands. SIS
Continuing, the State Forester says
that with a sufficient number of forest
patrolmen and rangersto see that burning
is done only under proper restriction
and control, and to see also that any
fires which may start, accidentally or
otherwise are promptly extinguished,
there would be no opportunity for
big fire to come into existence and gain
Roadway. Even during a high wind
the starting of one fire is not likely to
destroy whole community The harder
the wind, the less the fire would spread
out. 1t then travels in the form Of a
streak, which can be fought successfully
at the sides, and from which escape is
relatively easy. It is only when a
fire has been allowed to burn long enough
to attain wide front, or when num-
Der of small fires are close enough
together to easily unite, thus forming a
wide front, that settlements are seriously
endangered. @
For years the state foresters have ap-
pealed for the means with which to safe
guard the woods and the millions of
dollars worth Of property exposed to
forest fire risk. y It has seemed necessary
to appeal largely on the basis Of financial
returns. It is bad enough to have
thousands Of acres Of young. timber
needlessly taken from our productive
a:ea each year; it is regretable to have
the fertile soil burned off, thus destroying
hundled of farms, and to have our
much-needed supplies of pulpWood and
other timber still further reduced and
prices correspondingly increased; even
the loss of wild game is considerable. |
On these grounds alone the state is
justified in going far in fire prevention
work. But all else pales before the
appalling loss Of life, where whole +
families were blotted out or broken up,
and where homes vanished with the
savings and associations Of a lifetime. /
Ample means should be. provided
once and for all to properly perform
the states duty Of police protection
against forest fires. There should be
an adequate force of rangers and patrol
men. They should be properly equipped
ard paid commensurate with their