The country and the world have been plagued by fire this summer. Are things getting worse? It seems that way, but there have been some doozies of fire in the past. Take the Miramichi Fire of 1825 that destroyed three million acres of forest in New Brunswick and Maine and killed 160 people. Those fortunate enough to live along a river, could wait in the water along with the livestock and wildlife till the flames passed by.
The Great Chicago Fire in 1871 was part of a huge fire that spread from Wisconsin to Michigan, killing 1,200. It remains the deadliest fire in U.S. history. Some scientists blamed the widespread nature of the fire on a shower of meteorites. Then there's the Thumb Fire of 1881 that burned a million acres in the region of Michigan that sticks like a thumb into Lake Huron.
The day after the Thumb Fire the eastern seaboard was covered in yellow smoke, which got the attention of legislators in Washington. The federal government formed the Northern Forest and Protection Association, which by 1905 had become the U.S. Forest Service. But the mining and logging industries didn't like being told what they could do in the forests and the Forest Service was about to be defunded when the Great Fire of 1910 occurred.
The spring and summer of 1910 were hot and dry. There were over a thousand small fires burning in the northwest and the Forest Service was recruiting men as fast as it could. President Taft sent 4,000 soldiers to help, including 700 black soldiers whose numbers almost doubled the black population of Idaho.
Over the weekend of August 20-21, hurricane strength winds joined the smaller fires into a huge firestorm. Three million acres of forest along with several small towns in Idaho and Montana were destroyed in a two day period. The fire was too big for the firefighters. Seventy-eight of them were killed, including the 28 man "Lost Crew" at Setzer Lake.
The Great Fire of 1910 saved the Forest Service. Its budget was doubled and its mission to suppress every fire became gospel, though there's there's still a debate whether suppressing the natural ecosystem doesn't set the forest up for even worse fires in the future.
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| Let it rain |
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ReplyDeleteWhen you and I interviewed Elmer Benson of Palmville, in 1994, he told us of the fire of 1910 (I think) around here, how many lost haystacks they had put up, and the cedar forest burned; and the peat bogs. He said that some of the landscape changed as much as four feet in places where the fire burned its way through the peat. Elmer's great grandchildren have a VHS copy of that interview to confirm its date. Another guy who probably knew all about it was John Mielke of Skime.
DeleteLest we forget the Great Hinckley Minnesota Fire of 1894 which burned a phenomenal 350,000 acres or more than 400 squares miles. Unfortunately, that is not the worst of it. The fire also took the lives of at least 418 men, women, and children. Countless pets, livestock, and wildlife were also lost.
I definitely need to read WW's comment later, but for now, your chronicling of big fires is sobering. It would be informative to know how each of the fires ignited. That might inform us and keep us all safer. I'll have more to say later. Right now, I'm preparing for my Tue/Fri meditation session with a number of participants.
ReplyDeleteFor now ----- Let it Pour!
Okay, WW - your comment is longer than the Chairman's post. Jus' sayin'. I guess the rain deities may have heard the Forest crickin' and putting up myriad poofs of dry ground and needles. Interesting that Rain should come our way, and it's about time. T said we are supposed to get more than average rain for the rest of August. May it be so - within divine reason. The story you tell sounds too hot for comfort.
DeleteWe have been on pins and pine needles since Spring - still will be until we get enough soakers.