The Woods Are Tinder: Fire Crews Battle Blazes Across the Pend Oreille Valley

The air continues to be heavy with the smoke of many forest fires. As yet no serious losses have occurred in the Pend Oreille valley, although the woods are as dry as tinder and conditions are just right for destructive fires. The lumber companies are alert and using every effort to stop the many small blazes, and up to this time have been able to confine the fires almost exclusively to slashings on logged-off lands.

Deputy Fire Warden Sova is kept busy covering his territory between Ione and Newport and reports all fires are well under control. Mr. Sova is of the opinion that many of the fires are set through carelessness, and it is possible that some prosecutions may follow where the fires can be traced to carelessness or burning of brush without securing a permit from the fire warden.

The Covell sawmill, two and a half miles west of Cusick, located on Small's creek, was in serious danger of being burned. The timber in the vicinity is practically all owned by ranchers, and they put up a good fight against the flames with good results, the fire being reported safely under control Tuesday evening.

Up to this time the Kaniksu National Forest has escaped without any serious loss. A few fires occurred early in the season, but since the dry weather has started none have occurred. Forest Supervisor Millar has established an efficient patrol, but even with this precaution it is a marvel that the forest should so far have escaped. The atmosphere is so hazy that it is difficult for the observers to detect the presence of new fires and locate them.

Near Newport the fires are all under control. The fire across the river near the Langille place looked threatening Saturday and Sunday and a number of men worked at fighting it, with good results. West of town there was a small blaze in Panhandle timber in section 21 that is under control with little damage done. The fire was on Mount Begley and the King Co.'s plant at Penrith was shut down while the crew was taken out to fight it. The fire near the water works is also extinguished, although men are kept watching for fear of another outbreak.

Monday Deputy Sova called on the Fidelity Lumber Co. for thirty men to fight fire opposite Cusick, which started in Fidelity holdings and threatened to spread up into the National Forest. The men were sent down river in the Fidelity's new steamboat and worked with good results.

A fire at McCloud creek this afternoon consumed several piles of cedar poles belonging to the Graham Lumber Co. and a quantity of cordwood at the railroad siding.

On the west side of the county conditions are much worse. There have been bad fires all along the line of the S. F. N. from Clayton to the B. C. line. The fire at Loon Lake did considerable damage to standing timber and to cordwood and ties. At Ryan practically the whole town was consumed by a fire started in the woods. Northeast of Colville a young lady and a small child were burned to death in their cabin, unable to escape through the wall of fire that hemmed in their home. The latter fire is directly traceable to a land owner's attempts to burn brush — and he has been arrested and will be prosecuted.

Perhaps few people know that the state laws provide that a deputy fire warden has the right to call upon all citizens for assistance in time of emergency. A King county man was recently sent to jail for ten days for refusing to answer when called upon to go to fight a forest fire. The large timber owners and the Forest Service and state wardens are doing their best to patrol the woods and fight fires, but cannot do it all, and every citizen should deem it his duty to assist in the work of preventing and fighting fires. Every thousand feet of timber that is destroyed by fire means a wage loss of $8 to the community.