Evening star., 1947-10-27
Maryland Fire Fighters Guard
|Aqoinst Another Bar Horbor|

Against AnOInt
Forest fire fighters over Mary
land are standing by to prevent
any disaster similar to the Bar
Harbor (Me.) fire as the drought
continued today with little hope of
rain in the near future for the Dis
trict area.
Maryland woodlands are very
dry" State forestry officials stated.
An order banning fires of any
sort in State parks, such as picnic
fires, was issued yesterday by H. c.
Buckingham, Maryland State for
ester. A State law makes it unlaW-
full to burn trash or brush except
from pm. to midnight. At no
time is uncontrolled burning per-
mlssible.
State officials said that lack of
wind and heavy fogs in the morn
ings has been some help in keeping
the situation under control.
Rain This Week Unlikely.
The Weather Bureau said there
was only an outside chance of rain
this week. Some rain was reported
in the Mississippi Valley but it was
probable it would not move toward
the District area.
For the District the forecast was
sunny and warm today with the
temperature rising to 78 degrees in
the afternoon Tonight will be
clear with low of so degrees. To-
morrow will be continued clear and
warm.
In spite of the dry weather brush
fires in the District and nearby
areas were exceptionally light
over the week end. Twelve minor
blazes were put out by the District
Fire Department, while Prince
deorges. County, Arlington County
and Alexandria reported a total of
less than dozen.
A dozen scattered fires in Western
Maryland counties we're reported
out or under control.
There has been no rain in the
District since September 26 except
for .02 of an inch that fell 10 days
ago. The longest stretch of consecu-
tive rainless days in the District
was in 1901. 1t was % days.
Dryest October on Record.
This Is the dryest october in the
District on record. In 1874 only 90
of an inch fell, and in 1880 28 of
an inch was recorded.
A Weather Bureau official in
Richmond said he believed the for
ests of Northern Virginia were still
too green to be in great danger. In
the southern part of the State, how
ever, two fires have burned out a
total of $50 acres. One was in the
Dismal Swamp area and the other
was between Portsmouth and Suf-
folk.
Well over one-third of Maryland S
area is forest and woodlands.
According to records of the Mary
land State Department of Forestry,
the Office in charge of preservation
of these wooded areas, more than
third of the total forest acre
age in MarylanG-871, ,O0c acres-is
located in the seven counties sur
rounding or close to Washington.
About 10 per cent of the forest
fires occur in Prince Georges and
Anne Arundel Counties in the
Washington Baltimore Annapolis
triangle.
Four Districts in State.
To prevent fires or to take emer-
gency measures to put them out
once fires are started. the State has
been divided into four districts with
headquarters in Cumberland dis
trict No. u, Laurel (No. D. Sails
bury (No. 81 and Bel Air (No A..
The district with headquarters at
Laurel. covering seven counties in
Guiding Montgomery and Prince
Georges. Is typical of how the fire
prevention and control program is
conducted Under the supervision
of District Forester A. j. Pickall, the
Laurel district is divided into two
sections, the northern and southern
zones.
Seven fire towers, located on high
vantage points that overlook the ex-
panse of wooded land, are scattered
throughout the entire district. One
of these is at Hillmeade. on Defense
highway, about six miles east of
Bladensburg. Another is at Bur-
louisville, five miles southwest of
Laurel. A third at Hollowfield, a
mile north of Ellicott City, serves
both the Laurel and Bel Air districts.
Others are at Long Hill, Brandywine,
Great Mills and at Welcome, near
La Plata.
Weather Readings.
In addition, the district maintains
weather stations at Long Hill near
Glen Burnie, for the northern zone
and Cedarville for the southern zone
From these, readings are taken three
times daily to determine the hu-
midity, amount of sunshine, velocity
of wind, the type and condition of
the fuel and vegetation and other
such requirements.
The readings are broadcast daily
from Annapolis so that f1remen
throughout. the State may be better
prepared.
The most dangerous periods are
in March, April and May when more
than half of the fires occur, and from
September Is until December Is.
Radio plays the biggest part in the
drama of forest fire fighting. Use
of two-way FM-radio conmunica-
tions aids foresters and firemen in