No Way to Head It Off
A forest fire on the west bank of the Pend Oreille has outrun every crew sent against it. It will burn to the river, the reports say, and cover most of the country between Ruby and Blueslide — and when Newport called for men, none could be found.
A forest fire started near Ruby post office on the west bank of the Pend Oreille the first of the week and reports received today are to the effect that there seems to be no way of heading off the fire and that it will burn to the river and cover most of the territory between Ruby and Blueslide. The crew of the Newport which went down yesterday afternoon reported today that the fire was continuing to spread and that it has assumed a threatening aspect.
Most of the timber lands in the immediate track of the fire are owned by settlers, but the Panhandle Lumber Co. and the Consolidated Lumber Co. of Elk also have holdings in that vicinity. Jack McInnis has gone to the scene to direct the fire fighting for the Panhandle and a call was sent to Newport today for men to fight fire but none could be secured. The Consolidated sent down a crew of 11 men yesterday.
“"A call was sent to Newport today for men to fight fire but none could be secured."”
The Pend Oreille corridor still burns — the same drainages around Ione, Metaline and the Canadian line fill with smoke most Augusts, and crews are still mustered from small towns that can barely spare the men. What has changed is the machinery: in 1909 a fire that could not be headed by hand simply ran until it reached the river. The call for volunteers that "none could be secured" is the sound of a county with no fire infrastructure at all.
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