Title: American forestry Identifier: americanforestry221916amer Year: 1910-1923 (1910s) Authors: American Forestry Association Subjects: Forests and forestry Publisher: Washington, D. C. : American Forestry Association Contributing Library: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden Digitizing Sponsor: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden

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Text Appearing Before Image: 524 AMERICAN FORESTRY that stood in the road, rehef measures were under way. too, by plentiful tales of heroism. It was the second With appropriate vigor, a train-load of provisions and severe fire within five years in the same part of Ontario, equipment was sent from North Bay on Sunday morning The penalty of the Porcupine fire of 1911 was 84 lives and every town beyond the devastated area hurried motor and covered an area very much less than that of the 1916 cars with doctors and nurses to render service. disaster. In neither case was the forest growth of large By such means the hopelessness of the situation was size or maximum value, although the future will be in a a good deal relieved. Private and governmental agencies better position to estimate exactly what the sacrifice of carried in food and clothing, and burying parties removed forest growth amounted to. The service rendered in the the scores of coffins collected about the railway tracks and clearance of agricultural lands (where a slash had already roads. Light rains, commencing Sunday morning, spread been made) is naturally looked upon as a godsend. No minimizing of the fearful toll of life, however, is possible and Northern (Ontario r e - gards its latest experience as too over- whelniing to be weighed against real or pretended " benefits." The "Clay Belt " fire of July, 1916, will rank as one of the greatest forest disasters in American history. The Hinckley until the way should open for a fresh start at farming, fire in Minnesota, 1894, was responsible for 418 lives Government aid was immediately assured to the ex- and the burning over of 160,000 acres. The famous tent of partial rehabilitation of the sufl:'erers, special Peshtigo fire in Wisconsin, 1871, killed 1500 and dev- agents were appointed, and provision made for housing astated 1.200,000 acres. In 1825 occurred the Mir- and food supplies. To advise the Government regarding amichi fire in New Brunswick and r^Iaine, with a loss a permanent policy on all matters connected with the of 160 lives and damage of 3,000.000 acres. The Clay restoration of working conditions, a business committee Belt fire in Ontario, in point of lives lost, ranks third was convened by the Minister of Lands and Forests and in the records of the continent, although the sacrifice will investigate and report. of merchantable timber (under present conditions and Such is the general outline of a catastroiihe Inirdened present market values) is by no means a noteworthy with the most terrible and poignant incidents and relieved, distinction. The Cause of the Fire—And Future Prevention By Clyde Leavitt Forester, Commission of Conservation of Canada across the blackened country and, increasing in volume, gave the people their first hint of cheer. Hun- dreds had, of n e c e s s i t }• , taken train for Southern On- tario; others were in hos- pitals of the railway towns beyond the danger zone, and a luckless remnant lo- cated t h e m - selves in the temporary vil- lages of tents

Text Appearing After Image: Photograph by British and Culunial i*/t-;i. Torontu. ANOTHER SCENE WHICH WITNESSED TRAGEDY View from Nushka showing cut up the track where 54 people lost their lives. Only four people escaped from this town. Of those who took refuge in the narrow cut everyone was smothered by the heat and the gases from the fire. THE terrible loss of life, and of property as well, in the recent forest fires in Northern Ontario, must cause thinking people to take stock of the situa- tion,—to try to understand how such a thing could happen, and to determine what measures must be taken to prevent a recurrence. The explanation of the disaster is, to a certain extent, to be found in the character of the country itself. In the autumn of 1912 Dr. Fernow made a brief investigation. for the Lonimission of Conservation, of forest conditions along the National Transcontinental Railway for a dis- tance of about 200 miles east and west of Cochrane, as well as south from this point, along the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway. Dr. Fernow discusses, therefore, in his report, the situation in the very section devastated by the recent fires. He reported that much of the country is more or less swampy, due to tiie under- lying stiiT clay. As might be expected from this, the

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