The Republican., 1947-10-30
50 FIRES BURN
600 ACRES OF
FOREST LANDS
Rainfall on Tuesday Halts Hav-
Oc at Least Temporarily While
Forestry Men Recuperate


More than thirty forest fires scat
tered throughout Garrett county dur
ing the past week, with at least a
total of 600 acres of forest land par
TALLY destroyed. was the report given
out yesterday by the State Forestry
department after rainfall early
| Tuesday morning had temporarily
halted the havoc, All fires at that
time were under control and sub
sequently were extinguished
William A. Parr, district forester,
listed five blazes as major ones, one
burning as much as $50 acres.
One at Bear Hill near Bittinger on
the 23rd, burned about so acres.
One at Manadier Ridge, near Jen-
nings, on Saturday, burned 100 acres.
One at Backbone, near VindeX, on
the 23rd, burned ovcr $50 acres.
One at Hutton on the oath burned
so acres, and one at Crellim on the
25th burned so acres, the two latter,
Parr declared having caught from
sparks from railroad engines. Rail-
road crews assisted in fighting these
blazes.
On Monday an acre and a half
burned near the Youghiogheny river
bridge, the flames starting in the city
/
dump. In the Broadford areas near
Deer Park, two and a half acres
burned over but was quickly brought
under control by use of a new beetle
tractor.
The beetle tractor has been used ON
three fires in the county and Mr.. Parr
said it does the work of twenty men
and ought to prove very helpful in
the future. He explained it as a small,
maneuverable machine that can be
loaded on large truck and taken
near the scene of most any fire The
machine has disc dozcr ON front and
is able to create dirt path around a
burning area. 1t was obtained
through the U. S. Forest service.
Parr said that newly purchased
high pressure fog unit" similar to
fire fighting apparatus used by the
Navy during the war, has been
ordered sent to this area from Bal
timore. He declared the unit should
prove effective in fighting fires in
areas that can be reached by road.
The unit is mounted on a ieep and
carries a 50-gallon water tank The
fog soaks the area quickly.
The forester was liberal in his
praise for the Maryland State Police,
volunteer fire companies and other
volunteer units that had helped in
| fighting the many blazes Oakland
! High school students turned out for
several fires in this area, while
Grantsville High students assisted in
| fighting a blaze on the Dist. The fire
crews had been on the go almost con-
stantly for almost a week and the
brief rain was giving them some re-
spite.
Incendiarism Suspected
Parr was of the opinion that at
least three fires had been of incendi-
ary origin. He said some of the blazes
started in sections where it would
have been impossible for a smoker to
start fire and that some of the fires
could have been set by persons wish
ing to burn out underbrush so that
livestock could be grazed
There was a siX-acre fire at Turkey
Neck on Deep Creek Lake which
threatened several cottages and dwell
ings last Friday The fire around the
city dump on Monday also threatened
some homes nearby for a time.
Throughout the state more than
100 forest fires were reported. In
nearby Mineral and Grant counties in
West Virginia there were serious fires
for several days. A new woodland
!
blaze near Bayard was brought under
control on Monday. Mineral county
officials announced the arrest of one
suspect in connection with conflagra-
tions that have devastated about 20
square miles of timber land in that
area.
Since no permanent relief could be
expected from the dangerous fire
weather until a general rain sweeps
over the state, Parr urged hunters,
campers, motorists, farmers and
housewives to use extreme caution in
or near the woods. He urged every
one who has burning to do to post
pone it until there is a rain to relieve
the dry spell If burning must be
done, he advised that the law be COM
piled with, burning after p. M, con-
structing a line 10 feet wide, free of
all int1ammable material around the
material to be burned, and having
sufficient men with tools to control
the fire, keeping watchman on the
ground until the last spark is out.