“Forest Fires in the Adirondacks in 1903”
U.S.D.A. Bureau of Forestry Circular #26 (of 1904)
“Between April 20 and June 8, 1903, over 600,000 acres of timberland in northern New York were burned over. About $175,000 was spent in fighting the fires, which nevertheless were finally extinguished only by the help of the rains. The total direct loss was approximately $3,500,000. No less serious, though incapable of money valuation, is the direct loss due to the destruction of young growth, which was to form the future forest. To this must be added the injury to the forest soil caused by the burning out of the vegetable matter indispensable to healthy tree growth.
“In general, the fires burned rapidly, owing to the inflammable condition of the forest. They were either ‘surface’, ‘ground,’ or ‘crown’, the type of fire varying with the character of the forest and the strength of the wind. Usually fire began on the surface, spreading among the leaves and dead branches. Where deep, dry duff was encountered, combustion worked to the bottom of the half peaty mass, stealing along, sometimes without much evidence above ground, possibly even days or weeks, later to develop into a surface or crown fire under favorable conditions.
“Such fires (crown type) have been known to travel with remarkable speed. In Newcomb last spring the warden and several men ran for 2 miles closely pursued by the fire, and finally escaped only by placing a lake between themselves and the flames.
“In April a farmer near Lake Placid lost control of a fallow fire. It caught in the duff and smoldered there until the third of June, when an unusually strong wind fanned it into a surface fire, which traveled eight miles in two hours and a half. It leaped clearings and streams, At times it proceeded through meadows, making a path only a few feet wide, and then, driven by the wind, burst into a roaring conflagration, which in a few hours devastated a tract 6 miles long by 3 miles width. About 14,000 acres of land were burned over and almost every tree killed, including the largest hardwoods. In addition, Adirondack Lodge, a beautiful rustic hotel, its adjoining buildings, a shingle mill, several small dwellings, and a number of cattle were destroyed. A fire in Keene Valley burned from Cascade to a point near St. Hubert’s Inn, about 9 miles, while the Roaring Brook fire burned over 17,000 acres in Keene and Elizabethtown, and the Dix fire in North Hudson burned over 18,000 acres.
(note, pg. 8)”It may be noticed from the map that many of the detached fires have small streams running through them. This probably indicates that the streams were used as waterways for removing the logs cut along their banks and about the headwaters. Where cutting was done, the open slash with its quantities of dry, dead wood offered the most favorable opportunity for the spread of fire. Also, the stream itself was a gathering point for fishermen during the month of May. Their pipes and the smudges built to keep off the black flies and mosquitoes account for the source from many of the fires. Sometimes the fires ran fiercely in the slash on private lands, but died out or was moderated to such extent that it could be extinguished upon reaching the line of state land, where the forest cover was so dense that enough moisture was retained to protect the timber.
“The trout suffered severely… In shallow streams the heat alone was probably sufficient to kill the fish. In deeper streams it seems more likely that lye leached from the wood ashes, or the finely divided ashes themselves, had a poisonous effect… also the loss of heavy shade…
“The constant and evident tendency of corporations and heavy landowners within the area canvassed was to minimize their losses; no doubt, for excellent business reasons. One large paper company, which was known to have lost heavily, declined to give any information.
[note scribbled on margin: To Newkirk, Newhouse, LeMaire, and James]