Evening star., 1938-11-04
Kentucky Coal Town
Is Threatened by
Raging Fire
Volunteers Are Rushed
To Save Village in
Path of Flames

/
| FRANKFORT, KY, Nov. 4.-State
Forester Kenneth G. Mcconnell
said today he had received reports
that the town of Cumberland in
Harlan County was endangered by
a raging forest fire.
Mr.. Mcconnell said he did not
have any details but said five seri-
Gus fires were burning timber in
Harlan County.
A crew of c. C. C. enrolees and
w. P. A. workers were battling the
flames and backfiring was being
resorted to in an effort to save coal
mine tipples and homes of farmers
and miners. Mr.. Mcconnell said.
In Southwestern Kentucky a fire
roaring over 1000 acres of small
timber and brush was reported out
OF control by Christian County Judge
w. P. Soyars at Hopkinsville.
A strong wind famed the flames,
but heavy overcast skies encouraged
the fighters.
A brush fire smoldered near Louis
vile as residents and county police
relaxed after an all-night battle with
the flames which burned over $500
acres.
On the fire lines we're forest
rangers, convicts, farmers, c. C. C.
and w. P. A. workers and volunteers.
Some crews in Kentucky and West
Virginia withdrew hurriedly last
night to avoid being trapped by
flames.
Worst in Eight Years.
Fires dotted an area of 1900 square
miles in Southern West Virginia.
burning thousands of acres of tim
Der. destroying valuable hay crops
and sending up blanket of smoke
5000 feet thick in places. The fire
epidemic was described as the worst
in eight years. A call was issued
for 1000 men to assist 1000 who
have been at work two weeks.
A forest fire which burned over
5000 acres in Virginia advanced to
within a quarter of a mile of st,
Charles. Timber was damaged by
fires near Chattanooga, McMinn-
vile and Nashville, Tenn, and State
Forester j. O. Hazard said the
whole Cumberland mountain area
was in a condition to burn"
Flames swept both sides of the
Tombigbee River near West Point,
Miss, destroying thousands of acres
of timber. There were numerous
scattered fires in Georgia and Louisi-
ana, but none appeared out of con-
troll.
Convicts Are Used.
Convicts were pressed into the
fire lines in Alabama, where more
than 200 blazes were reported in
northern timberlands. Brisk winds
whipped the flames of numerous
forest and brush fires in Southeast
ern Missouri. Forestry crews were
aided by farmers and $50 c. c. C.
workers.
w. P. A. workers and farmers
battled a raging forest and prairie
fire near Alden, Ill. The flames cut
through $500 acres of timber yes
terday and today, threatening farm
homes, schools and churches in the
rural area.
At Emporium, Pa, the inquest
into the deaths of eight c. c.
c. workers in a Cameron County fire
last October 10 resumed today, with
District Attorney Edwin Tomkins
renewing efforts to obtain informa-
ton from records submitted to the
Federal Forestry Department..
Death Toll Now 8.
The death toll rose to eight yes
terday with the death in a Remove,
Pa, hospital of 18-year-old George
Vogel of New Kensington, near
Pittsburgh. His death followed the
amputation Of both arms. He was
given several blood transfusions as
physicians battled to save his life.
A score Of c. c. c. enrollees were
trapped in the rugged hills covered
with second-growth timber when
they were surrounded by flames
after the wind suddenly shifted. Four
enrollees and q supervisor perished
IN the pocket" Of flame and Vogel
and two others cisd In hospitals.
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